Case Study: Scoopt (by Kyle MacRae)
From Entrepedia: The Entrepreneurship Wiki
composed by Kyle MacRae
The Idea
The idea for Scoopt – a photo agency that brokers newsworthy picture sales between members of the public and the mainstream media – came to me when I was watching footage of the Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. It struck me that virtually everything I was watching on TV was shot by amateurs – locals and holidaymakers – caught up in this horrific event as it was happening. The media clearly needs this kind of content so the challenge was finding a way to connect people on the ground with global newsrooms. I launched Scoopt, a 'citizen journalism' agency, with my wife Jill in July 2005 to bridge that gap.
My background was in technology journalism, although I was used to selling words rather than photos. When thinking about Scoopt, I happened to be writing a book about mobile technology so I had a bunch of cameraphones to play with. It struck me that a great many people now had cameras in their pockets thanks to their mobiles, as well as the ability to send a picture from A to B instantly. This meant that whenever anything newsworthy happened anywhere, chances are it would be members of the public who took the first news pictures - and they could, if motivated to do so, send them somewhere useful, instantly. The journalist in me saw the opportunity here to connect the dots.
Background and Startup
Could I have come up with the same idea and launched the same business straight out of university without a background in journalism? Yes, absolutely. Lack of specific industry experience should never hinder an entrepreneur. But the sensible thing to do in that situation is find people who have the experience you lack and get them onboard. At Scoopt we had no experience of selling images to picture desks so we asked an ex-picture editor of the Sun to be an advisor. It's remarkable how many quality people will help you out if you ask. In fact, if there's a single tip that every student entrepreneur should take on board, it's that: find mentors, advisors and smart people who can provide valuable insights and open doors.
Funding and Getty Images
Scoopt was 100% bootstrapped by myself and my wife. We launched at a time when Scottish Enterprise was in turmoil (ok, so that could be any time but we were particularly unlucky in 2005-6) so grant assistance wasn't available. We spent a great deal of time pitching to venture capital funds but hit the same hurdle each time: the company had to show considerably more growth and market traction before the big funds would come onboard, but getting to that point required angel funding that wasn't forthcoming. Why? Because who invests in media startups?
The VCs also saw a critical limiting factor in Scoopt's potential growth: scalability. To sell a very large number of images in a global marketplace was going to require significant international resources i.e. lots of editorial bums on seats. The obvious alternative was a strategic partnership with an established industry partner that brought instant access to these markets. Which, to cut a long story short, ended up as the logical exit strategy for Scoopt. We had proven the concept that an agency like this could work – we had attracted many thousands of member in 100+ countries; they were sending us great pictures; we were selling these pictures worldwide – but we couldn't scale the business without major funding, and that wasn't looking likely. So in December 2006, 18 months after launch, I struck a deal with Getty Images – the world's largest image company – to acquire Scoopt. The sale went through in March 2007 and I continued to run Scoopt for a year. I left Getty in March 2008.
