Kyle
A few years back I had stored all of my digital photos on the sonystyle photo sharing website. At some point in the last part of the 2000s Sony decided to shut the site down. Unfortunately, I had used an older email address when signing up for the Sony photo sharing site and missed their 20 or so warnings that the site was shutting down. My photos from that time, were gone forever.
Because of this experience I was reluctant to try any of the newer services like Flickr or even Photobucket. I stored most of my photos (and still to this day) using iPhoto. The problem with iPhoto is if you take a ton of photos the space is eaten up quickly. I love what Apple has done with Photostream but that’s only good for your 1000 most recent photos. As you import more and more photos to Photostream the older ones get pushed out.
These are some major pain points for me personally that TechStars graduate, and Boulder startup, Birdbox will solve. BirdBox is a service that aggregates all of your photos and videos from over a dozen services both local and in the cloud. Once BirdBox imports all of your photos it keeps them in “nests” for you. Birdbox claims to do all the “heavy lifting” for you and they do. What’s even better is they make it a cinch to recall a photo later based on event, hashtag or whatever other cataloging you put into it.
All these features came about after founder Ben Nunez tried to find one single photo to send to his mom on his phone. Unfortunately the photo was tucked away on an external hard drive and he had to wait. Between SD cards, USB flash drives, external hard drives, iPhoto, Picassa (Google+) and now even Flickr, it’s sometimes a pain in the ass to try and find that one photo. Birdbox will make it easy for you.
We got a chance to interview the guys from Birdbox. Check out the interview with this exciting TechStars Boulder grad below:
What is Birdbox?
Birdbox is the company that is going to change the way you participate in events through the lens of your smartphone’s camera in real time without having to change your existing sharing habits. We do the heavy lifting for you by automatically pulling your photos and videos into a smart album we called a “nest” that uses the title, caption, and hashtags you choose. Whether it is a family reunion or a concert, collaborating with your friends has never been easier.
But wait…there’s more! Once you’ve used a public nest we keep the magic coming by giving you an easy way to find all the photos you’ve already got across all of your social networks regardless of where you choose to keep them currently.
In layman’s terms, how does it work?
The Birdbox experience is different depending on where you start first. If your first experience is from an event, all you have to do is share photos with the proper hashtag for the event using services like Twitter and Instagram, and then follow all the visual action in one easy spot. A quick example of this would be from our TEDxBoulder nest.Using Birdbox as an individual gives you a more robust set of options by making functions like searching and tagging your photos and videos painless. Simply log in, link your existing accounts where your photos and videos are stored (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and more), and after your photos populate inside Birdbox, you’ll be able to search and easily tag your photos to build your own nests. You can choose whether you want them to be public, private, or for specific people. Once in Birdbox, your photos can be searched by caption data, people, location, and existing hashtags associated with your photos and videos.
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
Ben Nunez, CEO, is a seasoned entrepreneur with 3 of his last 4 ventures resulting in acquisition or a currently functioning business. Ben attended Tulane University where he graduated with a business degree. Most recently Ben left a similar project at XIF.com which solved a similar problem in the enterprise business space.Kevin Cawley, CTO, is no stranger to the startup world. After completing his degree in mechanical engineering and moving on to a master’s degree in computer science Kevin has worked in the mobile, social and technology fields.
Where are you based?
We’re based in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. Land of all the outdoor activities you can think of, the best entrepreneurial community in the nation, some of the best restaurants (including bars, coffee shops, and breweries) and at least 300 days of sunshine every year. Can you tell we like it here?
What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?
The startup scene in Boulder is amazing! We’re surrounded by so much energy and positivity every day. We’re fortunate to have such a thriving startup culture where coffee shops, businesses and bars are always buzzing with entrepreneurial activity. Not a night goes by when there isn’t an event to network or share knowledge. It doesn’t hurt that TechStars was founded here by David Cohen or that the University of Colorado is just up the street. Case in point, we recently were invited to participate in House of Genius, where not only were we surrounded by 10 other great thinkers, but Brad Feld, who is leading the charge with his new book, “Startup Communities” about building entrepreneurial communities using Boulder as a case study, pops in.
How did you come up with the idea for Birdbox?
It was Mother’s Day and our fearless CEO, Ben, was trying to be a good son by sending his Mom a nice photo of the two of them together, when the perils of being an entrepreneur on the go caught up with him. So many hard drives, so little time! He thought to himself, “If only there was a way to easily find this photo wherever it is amongst my hard drives, email, and social networks) while on the go… and so the idea was hatched. Initially beginning with search across multiple drives and social sites, quickly progressing to aggregated albums (nests), and ultimately shared nests!
How did you come up with the name?
Well, Birdbox, simply put, is the place where birds come to congregate or nest. We’re looking to be a simple solution where a lot of photos and videos from all over the place can nest publicly and easily.
What problem does Birdbox solve?
Primarily, Birdbox makes it simple to tell the story of an event or gathering by collecting all of the photos in a collaborative and simple way. Secondarily, Birdbox solves the problem of fragmentation from so many social networks, file sharing sites, and local devices – the jumbled mess of photos many of us have – by indexing all your media in one simplified interface for you to collaborate and find all the memories you want to find, when you want to find them.
What’s your secret sauce?
The secret sauce is a how simple we make sharing and searching your photos. There is no new learning curve, you’re already posting to your favorite social sites… just add a little extra “spice,” if you will, so we can swoop your photos up and make sure they land in the right nest.
What’s one dilemma you’ve encountered in the startup process?
Focus. Being disciplined about who we are, the problem we’re solving, and not getting carried away with trying to build too many unproven features before we validate smaller sets of hypotheses. So, we’re always pushing each other to keep things simple in the product, which ultimately yields a much better product for the user. It’s a dilemma in the startup process we encounter every day, but I think we handle it well.
What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?
Getting through TechStars! It’s a beast of a program that pushes you to your limits. It creates lots of challenges along the way, and accelerates (duh!) the process of getting your company going. It’s a startup experience like no other.
Who are some of your mentors and business role models?
David Cohen is the first person to come to mind. He did the most to help us in the very first days of Birdbox, and has continued to be a supporting figure for us today. Seth Levine of the Foundry Group has also been an amazing mentor for us, pushing us in all the right ways. Ari Newman, a brilliant serial entrepreneur friend, has spent considerable time with us on strategy and focus. Luke Beatty, formerly of Yahoo! and Associated Content, has been one of the most valuable resources I’ve come across in my entrepreneurial life. And last, but definitely not least, David Hose of Ideas and Plans, a friend, neighbor, and incredible product strategist.
What’s next for Birdbox?
After our recent success with our first public nest at TEDxBoulder we’re driving hard at offering public nests up to other events in the area to demonstrate what a great collaboration tool Birdbox is. Once people realize how easy it is to tell a story with their Birdbox nest you won’t have another party without a hashtag involved.
