VentureBeat - Latest Comments in Phanfare raises $2.5M amid extreme competition for photo-video sharing

Re: Phanfare raises $2.5M amid extreme competition for photo-video sharing

A. Smith — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:41:15 -0000

@Don,

Great job with SmugMug! It's proof that technology based start ups don't require outside investment capital. Many startups today that are not profitable aren't because the scale their costs too quickly with an investment from outside sources. They then have a very difficult time reaching profitability in the short time frame required by those same investors. Organic growth is a better path to profitability, though it doesn't happen overnight.

Best wishes for your continued success.

Re: Phanfare raises $2.5M amid extreme competition for photo-video sharing

Matt Marshall — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:39:02 -0000

Thanks, have updated to reflect that. Sorry for misunderstanding. Congrats, too, on the profits.

Re: Phanfare raises $2.5M amid extreme competition for photo-video sharing

Don MacAskill — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:12:46 -0000

Hey, nice article about Phanfare, but you managed to get some details wrong about SmugMug, I'm afraid.

We don't require you to convert your video to an MPEG format yourself - you can upload almost any type of video you want, and we convert it to the very modern H.264 format - supported by QuickTime, iTunes, iPods, iPhones, Sony Playstation 3, and any day now, Flash (it's in beta), among lots of other things.

So you get unlimited video storage at SmugMug, conversion and compression are automatic, and the videos are truly gorgeous.

Oh, and you don't have to take perpetual losses - we've been profitable since our first year (we just celebrated our 5th anniversary). With $0 invested.