1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: Ye. Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, Varieties podcast 2 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: and entertainment. I'm Todd Spangler with Variety Today. Our guest 4 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: is Stephen Galanis, co founder and CEO of Cameo, which 5 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: has made a booming business of selling personalized video shout 6 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: outs from celebrities. The company is just shy of four 7 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: years old and last year they pulled in gross revenue 8 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: of a hundred million dollars, four and a half times 9 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: from the previous year. It's coming up today on Strictly Business. 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: Stay tuned, Welcome back to Strictly Business. Here's Cameo CEO 11 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: Stephen galanis so seven maybe you can start, uh, just 12 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: tell us sing your own words. What what is Cameo? 13 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: What's what's the mission? The mission of Cameo is to 14 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: create the most personalized and authentic fan connections on Earth today. 15 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: We primarily do this by selling personalized video shoutouts from 16 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: tens of thousands of different athletes, actors or celebrities. And 17 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: that's not the That's not the end of the business model, right, 18 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: we hope it's just the beginning. We believe we're in 19 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: the top of the second ending with cameo and the 20 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: larger vision of cameos to build the marketplace for people's 21 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: time for x amount of money you as a fan 22 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: should be able to pay to do. Why activity was 23 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: the person that you love? And UM right now we're 24 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: focused primarily on one y activity, the personalized video shout out, 25 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: the core cameo, which you know, I think we become 26 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: synonymous with. But again, this is just the first of 27 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: many things that we hope to delight fans with. Okay, 28 00:01:58,200 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: we'll get some more of that later, I think. But 29 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: so far to date you've delivered how many cameos to date, 30 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: it's a it's more than a million now. I think 31 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: we've done one point six million now since we started. UM. 32 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: You know, last year we crossed the millionth mark at 33 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: the beginning of the summer, which was a really exciting 34 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: milestone for the company and UH and we ended up 35 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: doing one point three million just in which was four 36 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: times more than we've ever done in a year. So 37 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: most cameos that have ever been done have happened in 38 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: the last twelve months. UM, and we're excited to just 39 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: continue to accelerate and create more magical moments for fans 40 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: around the world. So what what made you hit the 41 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: hockey stick? Was it the coronavirus pandemic really gave you 42 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: guys a lift? Or what happened? Cameo was the fastest 43 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: growing consumer marketplace on Earth coming into so the business 44 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: had been growing very rapidly. Um. But again, you know, 45 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: I think very relevant to your listeners. I don't have 46 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: to tell any of them that all live sports, all 47 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: live entertainment, all live music shut down for a big 48 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: part of and um, you know, artists were suddenly finding 49 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: themselves without any of their normal income streams. They're missing 50 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: the hell out of their fans. And you know, a 51 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: CAMEO we provided, UH during a really tough time for them, 52 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: an opportunity for talent to connect with the people that 53 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: keep them going, their their die hard fans and UH 54 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: and and make money at a time where nothing was 55 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: coming in. And if you think about, you know, or 56 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: or prior to the number one and number two reasons 57 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: that talent wouldn't join Cameo were you know, I'm making 58 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: too much money doing everything else that I do, or 59 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: I don't have time. So in a year where people 60 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: suddenly weren't making money, and they had more time than ever. 61 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: They gave us a shot. And the thing that's been 62 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: really awesome to see is, you know, everything's come back 63 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: really at this point except for live music. You know, 64 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: movies are filming again, televisions filming again, sports, you know, 65 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: the super Bowl just happened, so everybody's back to work. 66 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: And the thing that was really cool to see is 67 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: that they came on. They gave us a shop during 68 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: a time where nothing else was going on. But now 69 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: that life has returned to normal, cameos and interacting with 70 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: their fans this way has become part of their their 71 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,919 Speaker 1: stack as creators. It's it's become just as important to 72 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: them as their Instagram, their Twitter. There there anything else 73 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: well for for some of them. I mean, I mean 74 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: it takes a special kind of or a special kind 75 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: of interest in this, right, I mean to open up 76 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: to two individual fans like that. I mean, there are 77 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: some people who are unwilling to do this. I'm assuming 78 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: there's some people unwilling to be on Instagram or Twitter, right, 79 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: So there are people that don't like interacting with their fans. 80 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: We haven't found black market for those people in general. 81 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: One of the things that I've learned in the last 82 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: four years is that talent, no matter if they're musicians 83 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: or actors or athletes, are primarily driven by three main things. Uh, 84 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: they want to make more money, they want to become 85 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: more famous, and they want to become more beloved. So money, fame, 86 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 1: love is a framework that we think about. And yeah, 87 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: you're right if you're If you're somebody who doesn't need 88 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: more fame or doesn't need more money, or doesn't need 89 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: more love, Kenyo is not a great place for you, 90 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: and that's fine, um, But fortunately for us, most people 91 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: in the entertainment industry are looking to increase all three 92 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: of those things. And you know, the core value prop 93 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: for cameo is that in cameo, we're paying the talent 94 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: to become more famous and more beloved, and we helped 95 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: them turn their casual fans into super fans by creating 96 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: magical moments for them. So what is the price range 97 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: of an individual cameo and who sets that pricing? Is 98 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: that a negotiation with the talent. The talent have always 99 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: controlled their price. Is always important to us that nobody 100 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: ever felt that this wasn't worth their time. So by definition, 101 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: if they're setting their own price, like they're saying that 102 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: this is worth my time. As we've matured as a business, 103 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: we've been able to use our proprietary data to show, 104 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: you know, talent at different price points. Here's how you're 105 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:26,479 Speaker 1: converting at fifty dollars versus seventy five vere. Here's how 106 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: you're you're doing in comparison to other people who are similar, 107 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: maybe other characters on the same show, or you know, 108 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: if you're the star quarterback in one city, here's how 109 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: the star quarterbacks in another city is doing. So in 110 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: many ways, like our marketplace is starting to mature, and 111 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: it's it's almost becoming like a zillo, right, It's almost 112 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: becoming a place where people are coming on and looking 113 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: for relative value. So they'll they'll they'll look for a 114 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: group of people and they'll find the one that they 115 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: perceive has the best value as opposed to you're just 116 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: going for one person. So like I'm worth more in 117 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: Lindsay Lohan or something, a really good example. I'm a 118 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: I'm a die hard Chicago Bears fan and two of 119 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: my favorite all time Bears players or Lance Spriggs and 120 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: Brian or Lacker, they were almost equal players. They're both 121 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: you know, star star linebackers for the Bears one War 122 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: number fifty five, one War War number fifty four. Lance 123 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: Spriggs is fifty five dollars. Brian or Lacker is five dollars. 124 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: You must really love Brian er Lacker to justify thing 125 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: ten x uh, you know, for his for his rate. 126 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: But but that just gives you a sense of of 127 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: how our consumers shop and what the psychology is behind it. Interesting. Okay, 128 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: So this range is from maybe five to ten bucks 129 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: for some people, all the way up to couple of 130 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: thousand or what is the range exactly? Yeah, the at 131 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: the low and people are free, I mean there there 132 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: are some people on cameo that are zero dollars um. 133 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: At the high end, the most expensive can be you know, 134 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: multiple thousands of dollars um. Today, the average price of 135 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: cameos is seventy dollars. So it's actually a lot more 136 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: affordable than most people would expect. And that's and that 137 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: increased last year by about I think yeah, And and frankly, 138 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: we've seen it increase, you know, year over year by 139 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: a similar range. Since we started in seventeen, which is 140 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: our first year in business. The average price was twenty bucks, 141 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: it was forty bucks and eighteen, it was sixty bucks 142 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen and you know, in an increase to seventy 143 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: bucks last year. Part of it, again, this was a 144 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: completely new marketplace, so nobody knew what something like this 145 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: should cost. When we launched, we were selling videos for 146 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: one dollar or two dollars, three dollars, and at that price, 147 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: people are saying, this was the best dollar I've I've 148 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 1: ever spent, and this was the best two dollars I've 149 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: ever spent. And then as you know, Cameo has become 150 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: you know, more widely known, and you know, more talent 151 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: er on it of a higher caliber that the price 152 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: has naturally gone up because consumers understand what they're getting 153 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: and have a good idea of what the value is. 154 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: Fees to be some other things that they could get 155 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: from talent. Okay, so how do you look at the 156 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: competitive landscape here, Stephen? I mean, there's nobody that quite 157 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: does what you do. But I mean, are you competing 158 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: with you know, Twitter, Instagram? Are you competing with only fans? 159 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: I'm kind of joking about that, but how do you 160 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: see other people responding to you know, your audio marketplace. 161 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: One of the things that um I've been thinking a 162 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: lot about over the past four years is this widening 163 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: gap that's happening in all forms of the entertainment world 164 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: between fame and monetization. So today there are more famous 165 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,559 Speaker 1: people on Earth now than there ever had been because 166 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: of social media, because Netflix is putting twenty billion dollars 167 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: in content a year. And you know, if we had 168 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,719 Speaker 1: had this interview a week a year ago, none of 169 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: us would have known who Carol Baskin is andresotic and 170 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: now you know, everyone on Earth knows who they are. Right. 171 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: There's Carol bask and was like the sixth most popular 172 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: talent on Cameo last year, right, Right, So again we 173 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: have tens of thousands of talent and a year ago 174 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: nobody knew who she was, and today you know, she's 175 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: a top ten person in the world on Cameo. Right. 176 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: So the whole point is that the amount of fame 177 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,359 Speaker 1: on Earth is exponentially increasing, but the business model supporting 178 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: fame is growing linearly. So what's happening is for the 179 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: average talent, there's a widening gap between fame and monetization, 180 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: and the underlying business models are only working for the 181 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: top like you know, point zero zero one percent, you know, 182 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: the true A plus listers. So if you look at YouTube, 183 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: the top three percent of creators make percent of all 184 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: the ad revenue. There's people with tens of millions of 185 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: followers who you know, your kids love or your nephews 186 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: love that, uh that you know you've never heard of, 187 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: but like, they make no money on YouTube. Essentially they 188 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: have to monetize otherwise. Uh. If you're talking about sports, 189 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: the top two percent athletes make of all the endorsement 190 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,719 Speaker 1: the new And there was a documentary ESPN did a 191 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,439 Speaker 1: couple of years called Broke that said of NFL players 192 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: go broke five years after playing their last game. For Spotify, 193 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: the top one percent of artists make of all the 194 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: streaming revenues. So artists are having to sell merch, they're 195 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: having to do meeting greets when they're touring, they're having 196 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: to go on tour um and you know, in in 197 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 1: the Screen Actors Guild in the best of times, one 198 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,319 Speaker 1: of the oldest memes of Hollywood is the outer work 199 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: actress or actor who's bartending or waiting tables between getting 200 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: casted in something. But those people can now go on YouTube, 201 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: they can go on TikTok, and you know, those that 202 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: have great talent can actually go and find ways to 203 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: blow up without being cast in anything. So when you're 204 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: looking at this, there's now fifty million people on Earth 205 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: who consider themselves creators and the pipeline is big. One 206 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 1: third of American teens hope to be an influencer when 207 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: they grow up. So there's continued stress on this. And 208 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: when you look at the legacy business models and music 209 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: and entertainment, the solution here is not coming from the 210 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: record labels. It's not coming from the movie studios. Everybody 211 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: is under siege. You think about sports um, you know 212 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: ESPN struggling because people are cutting cable and when you 213 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: when you think about all these things, the only solution 214 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: to fixing this long term, a world where there's more 215 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: famous people, people are more famous than they are rich, 216 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: is by going direct to fan for monetization. So I 217 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 1: think Cameo is the leader in direct to fan monetization. Uh, 218 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: this space is white hot, it's a huge space. There 219 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: will be many big companies Cameo included, that are built 220 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: out of this um. And you know, you you talked 221 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: about business like only fans that's helping go direct to 222 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: fan monetization for the adult sector. Uh, there's businesses like 223 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: Patreon who are doing direct to fan monetization for artists 224 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: and podcasters. Sub Stack is doing this for journalists. Right, 225 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: So there's a variety of companies in this space and 226 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: it's extreme, really interesting and we've never looked at Twitter 227 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: or Instagram or snapchatter or clubhouse or anything is competitive 228 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: because ultimately talent get famous on those platforms and it's 229 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,959 Speaker 1: on Cameo that they come to get paid to become 230 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: more famous and more beloved. So in many ways, the 231 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: other platforms are the farm system for Cameo. And you 232 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: know we you know we benefit from a system where 233 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 1: more people, more famous people are being created every day. 234 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: So what share? What is the revenue share that you 235 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: provide with the talent? Does it depend? Is it arrange? 236 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: Every single talent is on the exact same financial split. 237 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: It's a split talents way. Um, every person is on 238 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: the same deal. We've never deviated for anybody. Um, we've 239 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: never given a minimum guarantee, we've never paid anyone to 240 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: come on Cameo, and we've never given equity for anyone 241 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: to join the platform. So everyone's on the same deal. 242 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: And we think that's uh, that was a huge part 243 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: of building a fair ubiquitous platform. Oah uh, So let's 244 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: talk about who are the successful people on cameo really 245 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: making making a mid here, you know, and I've got 246 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: the top ten list of top performing talent of number 247 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: one Brian Brian bowmen Garten, sorry, Brian bowen Gardner, who 248 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: was Kevin from the Office, right, Yeah, then you've bred Farve, 249 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: uh Snoop Doug, Gilbert Gottfried, Chris Harrison of The Bachelor, um, 250 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: and the aforementioned Carol Baskin from Tiger King. What's common 251 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: among the people who perform really well? Besides you know, 252 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: they're hard working and put in put in the elbow grease. Here. 253 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: The the thing that characterizes talent who are really successful 254 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: on cameo, I think is a couple of things. Number One, 255 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: they have to have a big, authentic personality. So if 256 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: you're looking at someone like uh, you know, Big Ed 257 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: from ninety Day Fiance, who is one of the top 258 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: ten cameo talent this year, or um, someone like Gilbert 259 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: God for your Snoop dog like, these are big personalities 260 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: who um you know, tend to be really funny. We 261 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: find that people that are funny tend to be the 262 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: best people who are great at ad living um. And 263 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: the thing that's interesting, if you look at our top 264 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: ten most you know booked people on cameo, it is 265 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: not a representation of the top ten most famous people 266 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: on cameo. So it's interesting. Just like Snapchat, you know, 267 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: made DJ Khalid kind of this huge star, but you know, 268 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: he's not the biggest person in the world on Instagram 269 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: or on Instagram. You know, Kylie Jenner and and Kim 270 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: Kardashian are like the biggest people on earth, but they're 271 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: not the biggest people on Twitter. That was Ashton Kutcher 272 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: and shocked back in the day. Every platform has their 273 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: stars that are become emerge and breakout stars. They're all famous, 274 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: but it takes something special, uh, you know, for them 275 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: and and and for us, it's people who are authentic, 276 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: people who really love their fans, people who make pretty 277 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: funny videos. That that's that tends to be what we 278 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: found makes people most successful in CanYa. Okay, so you 279 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: probably have some whales that you'd like to get here, right, Like, 280 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: I mean, Taylor Swift, I don't know um, Frank Ocean 281 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: people like that. Right, There are five million people on 282 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: Earth we think can be on this, and we have 283 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: tens of thousands, so you know, we we could spend 284 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: like the entire UH podcast talking about all the people 285 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: we want to get on Cameo, and it's really not 286 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: even that we want them. We want to make our 287 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: fans happy. So we know every day who people are 288 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: searching for, and our team, you know, has been working 289 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: hard over the last four years to take a look 290 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: at the aggregate search results and get people on that 291 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: UM that the fans are demanding. And that's that's that's 292 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: why we exist to to do, you know, to get 293 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: these people on the platform so we can make people smile, 294 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: laugh and cry. We need to take a quick break, 295 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: but we'll have more with Stephen right after this, and 296 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 1: we're back with CAMEO CEO Stephen Glennis, let's back up 297 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,719 Speaker 1: a second. Let's go back if if you will, Stephen 298 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: and give us kind of the short version of the 299 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: origin story. How did this start? So? UM? My co 300 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: founder Martin Uh, someone I've known for a while. We 301 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,199 Speaker 1: were producing movies and television shows together and UH and 302 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: then I went to go work at LinkedIn um he 303 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: went to go and be an NFL agent. We didn't 304 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: see each other for a couple of years. He then 305 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: flew into Chicago for my grandmother's funeral, and as I 306 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: was driving him back to the airport, he was telling 307 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: me about a problem he was having as an NFL 308 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: agent who was wrapping one person who was in a 309 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: superstar the player his name was Cassius Marsha the Seattle Seahawks. 310 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: Martin had high conviction because the guy had a big personality, 311 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: that maybe this guy could become the next rock, you know, 312 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 1: Let's get him in television shows, Let's get him in movies, 313 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: Let's get him endorsement deals. And I had never heard 314 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: of him, and I asked Martin, like, show me who 315 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: he is. And he pulled out his phone and he 316 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: played a video that today we called the first Cameo. 317 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:26,239 Speaker 1: And in the video, Martin had Cassius marsh congratulate his 318 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: good buddy Brandon, who at the time was working at 319 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: Nike with a lot of big famous athletes, but loves 320 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks. And he congratulated Brandon. I'm becoming a father, 321 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: so he hits play. Cassius is not wearing a shirt. 322 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: He's in southern California. He's all tatted up, he's got 323 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: a flat brimmed tat on and he's making the video 324 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: while driving and he goes, you know, he goes, hey, Brandon, 325 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: it's Cassius marsh from the Seahawks. Heard about your son, Maverick. Congratulations. 326 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 1: If he gets your athletic ability, he'll be playing for 327 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: the Seahawks one day. Go Hawks. It was like a 328 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,959 Speaker 1: five you know, I have six second video, but it 329 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: was so striking and immediately as he showed it to me, 330 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: the lightbulb moment, you know, hit and and I was like, Martin, 331 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: we need we need to sell that, Like I feel 332 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: like people would want that. So immediately we had pretty 333 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: high conviction that people would want this if talent were 334 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: willing to do them at scale. And that was the 335 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: big question. And as we started to talk to you know, 336 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 1: pro athletes we knew, or actors we knew, we kept 337 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,400 Speaker 1: hearing that like, oh, yeah, I did one of these 338 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: for my agents. You know son's bar Mitzvah right, or uh, 339 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: you know I did one of these for to pump 340 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: up my the football team in my old high school. 341 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: So we are for people who were kind of in 342 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: the inner circle. And we really felt like if we 343 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: created a marketplace that was lifting the red velvet rope 344 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: and and bringing people in, talent would be able to 345 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: engage with way more of their fans than they do today. 346 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: Because you know, in many worlds, like in this world 347 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: of social uh, everyone wants to engage with their fans more, 348 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 1: but you know, it can be really dangerous letting you know, 349 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 1: people into closely. So this gave talent the opportunity to 350 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: come and, you know, and delight their fans on their 351 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: own schedule. And for the fans side, I mean, you've 352 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: seen many famous people, I'm sure with your job, and 353 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: how often are you in a restaurant and you see 354 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: someone you really admire and you're like nervous to go 355 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: up to them, right and and if you do, they 356 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: might be mean to you. So like this actually or 357 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: or when you do talk to them, a lot of 358 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: times people get starstruck, they fumble their words. So this actually, 359 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: on the fans side, is a more safe and enjoyable 360 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: way to interact with the talent because that nervous factors 361 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: out as well. So we just found it worked really 362 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,440 Speaker 1: well on both sides. That's an interesting psychological sort of 363 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:47,360 Speaker 1: human nature porn. UM. I have to ask you this, right. 364 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,200 Speaker 1: You recently had a story Lindsay Lohan asked UH, a 365 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: fan who had ordered a video from her to take 366 00:20:55,760 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: it down, UM from social media? How does that happen? 367 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: And UM, you know, is this just a UM, you know, 368 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,399 Speaker 1: an attribute of UM you know, people getting used to 369 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: this whole concept or I mean again, we've done one 370 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: point six million cameos since we started. I don't I 371 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: don't even think I could count on one hand the 372 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: amount of times that we've you know, we've seen that 373 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: typically it's not because the video is inappropriate, like in 374 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: this case, it wasn't. UM. I I believe in this case, 375 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: Lindsay was giving this this girl motivation to come out 376 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: to her parents. UM. And you know, then she made 377 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,879 Speaker 1: a TikTok compilation of it, and you know, and it 378 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: went viral. It was a great moment. And I'm sure 379 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: in Lindsay's mind this was something that was probably like 380 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: best for the person that it was intended to, and 381 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: and and people in the immediate factor. But you know, 382 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: it went on TikTok, it went hyper viral, which look 383 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: percent of the time, like the talent love when the 384 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: videos go viral, UM, and and the fans love it too. 385 00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: So this was just a case where I think she 386 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: felt this was like a very personal moment and UM 387 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: and it went out. But this has not been a 388 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 1: problem at any type of scale for us. Okay, UM, 389 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 1: now you you mentioned, uh were you alluded to some 390 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: newer products that are coming in. You've got something called 391 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: Cameo Direct let's you chat directly with UM your favorite celebrity. UM. 392 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 1: And you've got Cameo Live, which is like a fifteen 393 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: minute zoom call. What what's been the traction there and 394 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: what do you need UM to do on that front 395 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: too to get that into you know, the mainstream product pipeline. Yeah, 396 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: so both of these were new products that we launched 397 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: last year. UM. You know, messaging is something that we 398 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: think is really important to the future of Cameo when 399 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,199 Speaker 1: you look at other social networks, whether it's Instagram or 400 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,639 Speaker 1: Twitter or LinkedIn, where I used to work, UM, you know, 401 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: in mail with such a big part of LinkedIn, So 402 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: in many ways, UH, Cameo Director is kind of like 403 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: in mail for celebrities, you can shoot a direct message 404 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: to them and on Instagram or Twitter. Um, you know, 405 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: I'm sure you get a lot of d MS yourself, 406 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: and if you don't follow the person, it goes into 407 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: a different box than a lot of times you don't 408 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: even see those d M s. The cool thing about 409 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: Cameo d M is that you know, you can pay 410 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,959 Speaker 1: and get into their inbox and they actually see it. 411 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 1: So in many ways, this is taking a concept that 412 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: we learned that payment is a necessary friction which enables fulfillment, 413 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: and we've just taken it to the next level in 414 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: the d M experience on Cameo Live. This was you know, 415 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: as I mentioned at the beginning, we're building the marketplace 416 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: where for X amount of money you can do why 417 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: activity was the person This was the second why activity 418 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: that we I thought was interesting. People have always asked me, Stephen, 419 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: are one day will I be able to meet the 420 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: stars in real life? Like would you ever do you know? 421 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: Real life bookings. It's something we've thought about from the beginning, 422 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: but it's logistically difficult because of COVID. Everybody's using Zoom. 423 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: I think zooms daily active users went from like ten 424 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:09,159 Speaker 1: million to million basically overnight. And you know, I know, 425 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,120 Speaker 1: if I had told my mom, you know, to get 426 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: on a Zoom call. Uh, twelve months ago, she would 427 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: have known what I was talking about. But now today 428 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: it's become so easy. But and it's the same for 429 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: talent to write, like a lot of talent had never 430 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,159 Speaker 1: been on zoom. Uh. They started doing it, and they 431 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: found that this was a great way to interact with 432 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: their fans. It allowed us to test out synchronous video 433 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: chat for the first time and uh, and we took 434 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 1: a lot of learnings there and you know, now we're 435 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: starting to think about different formats for synchronous So that 436 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: was a big experiment. People enjoyed it a lot. And 437 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: at this point, we're taking the learnings that we made 438 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: from doing it in a low code way over Zoom 439 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: and we're actually building it into the core product. So 440 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,080 Speaker 1: you know, I would I would really watch our Cando 441 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,920 Speaker 1: Calls product, which would be coming out later this year. Yeah. 442 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: And as opposed to in person meet and greets, Uh, 443 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 1: it's a lot more scalable, right, and it um, you know, 444 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,159 Speaker 1: more cost efficient. Yeah. I'll tell you a story. Um. 445 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: One of my early mentors is a guy named Matt Maloney, 446 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 1: who is the CEO of grub Hub. And one thing 447 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: Matt told me in the early days of Cameo was, Stephen, 448 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: I built the largest marketplace business that's ever come out 449 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 1: of Chicago, my hometown, his hometown. Uh. And you you've 450 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: built a business that has the opportunity to be way 451 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: bigger than the one that I built. Because you're selling bits. 452 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: I'm selling atoms. Now what does that mean? Nobody in 453 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: Chicago cares about how many restaurants are in on grub 454 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: hub in l A because you need to build localized 455 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 1: supply and match with localized demand. But on Cameo, a 456 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: talent could be in Mumbai and make and make a 457 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: video for someone in Miami. And because we've removed location 458 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,640 Speaker 1: is a barrier, the amount of connections that we're able 459 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: to facilitate every day has gone up drastically. UM. So 460 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: that's why I think, like, well, in person meetups would 461 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: be really cool that anything synchronous video is way more 462 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: scalable because don't actually have to think about the logistics 463 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: of where people are. Yeah, or as you mentioned before, 464 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 1: security issues, UM, things like that. UM. One other new 465 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: area of business that you recently did. UM, you did 466 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: your first partnership with a movie studio. You worked with 467 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: MGMs American International Pictures and a collaboration for breaking news 468 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:32,679 Speaker 1: in Yuberg County. Um, and so what how did this 469 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: come together? And so essentially correct me if I'm wrong here, 470 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: but Alison Janny and Bridget Everett are giving special Valentine's 471 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: Day messages for ten bucks each and the proceeds are 472 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: benefiting the Trevor Project and COVID nineteen relief. Um, how 473 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: did this come about? And where do you see this 474 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: type of thing going? Yeah, it's an every one. We're 475 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: really excited about it. For the last three years, we've 476 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,360 Speaker 1: had numerous studios come to us to talk about, Hey, 477 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:05,239 Speaker 1: here's a way that we think we can work with 478 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 1: Canyo too, you know, build fomo and excitement around to launch. UM. 479 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: You know, for a long time we found ourselves getting 480 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,880 Speaker 1: in these conversations and then nothing would end up happening. 481 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 1: But I think that from the studio's perspective, movie theaters 482 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,400 Speaker 1: are still closed. Uh, you're you're You're having a lot 483 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: of these films released direct to consumer now, and everybody's 484 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: looking for ways to to um, you know, to stand 485 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: out from the crowd and the advertising budgets of of 486 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,120 Speaker 1: all the main studios have been cut in a big way. 487 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, at the Super Bowl, one thing 488 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: that stood out. I don't think I saw a single 489 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 1: preview for a movie that was coming out, which like 490 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 1: that's probably a third of the commercials out of normal 491 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: Super Bowl. And there were there were a couple, but yeah, 492 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: not a lot. But I'm saying like pales in comparison 493 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,639 Speaker 1: to what you know, we normally would see. So from 494 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 1: from that side, UM, this was a thing that materialized 495 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: through hardware gone MGM side and on our partnership side, 496 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: we're really excited to test this and so far the 497 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: results have been really exciting on both sides. UM, and 498 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,160 Speaker 1: you know, hopefully this is something we do more over 499 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: and over again. I think it's I think in two 500 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: years or a year from now, every single movie, every 501 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: show coming out, we'll have a camera strategy. This is 502 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: you know, in many ways, we're piloting it out and 503 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 1: we're grateful that MGM gave us the opportunity to to 504 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: help be part of such an exciting new project. Yeah interesting, Okay, Uh, 505 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 1: just a couple other things while we while we have ton, 506 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: you brought on a whole bunch of new senior executives. UM. 507 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: In the last couple of months, UM Rob Post who 508 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: was previously at Quimby. UM he was CTO there, he's 509 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: now your CTO. UM. You have a CFO dep Swarts 510 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: who was with Bustle previously. UM melst Einbach who was 511 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: previously at McDonald's. She's your chief people officer. And your 512 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,000 Speaker 1: CEO Brian Frank who you do I think from Lincoln 513 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: what UM? I mean this is this is the next 514 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: stage of the company. Then building out that that c 515 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: suite for you absolutely, UM. Like our our goal is 516 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: to become one of the most important companies in entertainment 517 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: and we think that we're building something great that will 518 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: be an enduring, last thing publicly traded company. And you know, 519 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: the next phase for Cameo was finding people who have 520 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: been there, done that. UM. We're all first time founders 521 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: and most of the founding executive team. Every single day 522 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: we hired more people that everyone was in the biggest 523 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: job they've ever had. UM. We've you know, in dead 524 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: we found a CFO that can take a public at 525 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: in mal we have UM a chief people officer who's 526 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: operated at one of the largest employers in the world. 527 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: Um in our CEO, Brian Frank We've found someone uh 528 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: join LinkedIn as the second person in revenue when they're 529 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: doing seventy million in business and was there until they 530 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: were doing six billion and sold to Microsoft. And in 531 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 1: rob Post. We think we have one of the best 532 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: uh you know, technologists in the world helping lead our 533 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: our efforts to just build an incredible platform. So we 534 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: love the new leaders that we've had. Uh They've messed 535 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:26,440 Speaker 1: seamlessly so far with the existing people that have been 536 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: the reason why we've gotten there, and they've been additive 537 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: to our culture. So we're excited on that. It's my 538 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: job to make sure the CEO that I'm the worst 539 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: person in the executive room. So I'm trying to, you know, 540 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: surround myself with people that I can learn from and 541 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: that know their subject area way better than I do. 542 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: And that's really the way that I CEO can continue 543 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: to grow quicker than the pace of the business, which 544 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 1: has been really fast. Now now or is your company 545 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: still working remotely given pandemic conditions, Not only are we 546 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: working remotely today, but we will be working remotely forever. 547 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: We actually made the decision this summer to become a 548 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: fully distributed company. Historically, we were headquartered in Chicago with 549 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: our hey, we had people in London, with people in Melbourne, Australia. 550 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: We have people in Argentina. Uh. Since mid June, we've 551 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: decided that we're gonna get rid of all of our offices. 552 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: We do not care where people live anymore, as long 553 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: as they have internet access. And and you know, this 554 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: is an exciting new face for us. Those executives that 555 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: you just mentioned, they're not in l A and Chicago. 556 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: Rob posts in Tampa Bay Depth Shorts is in New 557 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: York City. Uh, the Bran Frank is in the Bay Area. 558 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: So you know, it's allowed us to hunt and find 559 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 1: the best people no matter where they are. And in fact, 560 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:50,959 Speaker 1: today twenty six are are are are employees living states. 561 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 1: So this is a huge difference from before everyone was 562 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: in Illinois California. Uh. You mentioned um in I P 563 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: have you have a time learn on that? Look, we um, 564 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: that's our goal, right. I think like as a as 565 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: a CEO, it's my job at some point to exit 566 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: the business, either through I P O or acquisition. Um. 567 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: You know that's my number one fiduciary responsibility to my 568 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: employees to the talent on the platform to all the 569 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: people who invested in US and had faith in us. UM. 570 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: So you know, for me, that's been a dream, a 571 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: lifelong dream to run a publicly traded company. We'll do 572 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: when we're ready. We're not going to do it before 573 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 1: we're ready. Um. And and I think, um, you know, 574 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: we have a very ambitious roadmap. We've got a lot 575 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: of things to accomplish before we're ready for it. Uh. 576 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,840 Speaker 1: And frankly, a lot of team building right the infrastructure 577 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 1: and accounting and legal and finance, like, there's just a 578 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: lot of things that a lot of bustle that needs 579 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 1: to be built, and frankly, a lot more hiring we 580 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 1: need to do to be able to function as a 581 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: publicly traded company. Um. But look, we're well on our way. 582 00:32:57,920 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: And if we continue to execute the way we have 583 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: in the past four years for the next four I 584 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: think that, um, you know, this would be a company 585 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: that is beloved in the public markets. So now you're 586 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: you're privately held, But are you break even? Are you 587 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: cash flow positive at this point? Are you close to 588 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: that or what? It's not a goal for us to 589 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: be cash flow positive or break even right now. We're 590 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: you know, seeing huge growth opportunities ahead of us who 591 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: were investing, you know, very aggressively into growth. Last year, 592 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: we grew four and a half ax from the year 593 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: before UM, and you know, we we believe that there's 594 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: great opportunities not just in the US but all around 595 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: the world to continue to put the pedal to the 596 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: metal and grow faster. So that's what we're focused on 597 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: right now. So what areas are you investing and are 598 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: you is it products? Is it engineering, is it support, marketing? Everything? Yeah? Four, 599 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: I would say four man things. Number one, we're constantly 600 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 1: investing in our team that acquires and then works with 601 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: the talent on the platform. So talent acquisition is a 602 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 1: really big part, and we're scaling that game up, especially 603 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: with more vertical specialists now. So we're not just that 604 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,279 Speaker 1: even a year ago, people were just hired and they 605 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: might one day talk to an athlete, the next day, 606 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: talked to an actor, the next day, talk to a musician. 607 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,040 Speaker 1: We're starting to hire people that are experts in different fields, 608 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 1: that have really good networks, and and we're excited to 609 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: build that team out. UM, you know, hiring all across 610 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: the board. We're we're doing right now. We're investing deeply 611 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,040 Speaker 1: in research and development, you know, with rob post Um. 612 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: You know, we think we can unlock some unbelievable engineers 613 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,239 Speaker 1: that have worked on video at scale and money other platforms. UM. 614 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,239 Speaker 1: And then you know, I would say the last thing 615 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 1: is marketing is something we haven't really done at all. 616 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,400 Speaker 1: We've spent very little money on marketing, but now we're 617 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,880 Speaker 1: we're really looking to start telling more people our story. 618 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: Only four percent of the US population in our core 619 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,920 Speaker 1: demographic know who we are today, so thank you for 620 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,919 Speaker 1: helping tell our story. UM, But it's still early days. 621 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,959 Speaker 1: Right on the on the talent manager side of things, 622 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 1: are you uh finding it? Are you hiring people from 623 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:14,319 Speaker 1: traditional Hollywood agencies? We've hired people from a variety of backgrounds, 624 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,319 Speaker 1: some from traditional Hollywood backgrounds, but many from B two 625 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,319 Speaker 1: B sas companies like in tech and frankly, we've also 626 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,879 Speaker 1: hired a lot of people that we're doing other things 627 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: but are just really passionate about pop culture celebrities and 628 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,440 Speaker 1: had never worked with talent before. Especially a lot of 629 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: the people we hired in Chicago, which is where the 630 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 1: majority of our employees are, you know, C. A and 631 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: W m E and you know Sony and MGM. They 632 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,600 Speaker 1: don't have like big offices. They're super rare if you're 633 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:45,319 Speaker 1: working with talent in a city like Chicago. But there's 634 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: a lot of demand to do it, and we found 635 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: just hiring smart people that are really passionate about what 636 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: they're doing. Um, it didn't matter so much the experience, 637 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: especially in the early days, right. Uh, well, Stephen, were 638 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:01,240 Speaker 1: almost at a time. My last question for you is, uh, 639 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:06,680 Speaker 1: what cameos have you personally ordered and had event some 640 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:12,319 Speaker 1: of your favorite? Uh favorite ones? I've ordered hundreds over 641 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 1: the last few years. But the best one I did 642 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 1: recently it was a cameo I got for my mom 643 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:23,000 Speaker 1: for her birthday from Kenny Gime, favorite musician. He played 644 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,960 Speaker 1: a song for her. He talked about how, you know, 645 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,320 Speaker 1: special of a woman she must have been to to 646 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: create a son that created cameo. That's helped people become, um, 647 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: you know, so much closer to the people that they 648 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,480 Speaker 1: loved the most. So that was special And my mom 649 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: posted it on Facebook. It got six ninety two likes, 650 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,719 Speaker 1: which I think is the most like she's ever got. 651 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,240 Speaker 1: So she was with that. That is that is awesome. 652 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 1: Stephen Glanis. Thank you so much, great to have you 653 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: on the podcast, Thanks for having me, thanks for listening. 654 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: Be sure to tune in next week for another episode 655 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,960 Speaker 1: of Strictly Business, and feel free to leave us a 656 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: review on ample podcasts We love to hear h