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

By: Mercado TIME - 5

Mercado TIME - 5 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:59:00 +0000

[...] TechCrunch) – GuildCafe Acquires Uberguilds To Expand Network Of Gamers (Por ZS NewsBits) – Phanfare raises $2.5M amid extreme competition for photo-video sharing (Por [...]

By: Apple Blog » Blog Archive » Third Time’s a Charm: Phanfare Gets $2.5M in Latest Round

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:30:53 +0000

[...] profit, and is in an extremely crowded market, with others offering free photo-sharing services. As Venturebeat reports, Phanfare CEO Andrew Erlichson has indicated that the company has a secret weapon planned [...]

By: Third Time’s a Charm: Phanfare Gets $2.5M in Latest Round

Third Time’s a Charm: Phanfare Gets $2.5M in Latest Round — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:20:31 +0000

By: A. Smith

A. Smith — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:41:15 +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.

By: Matt Marshall

Matt Marshall — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:39:02 +0000

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

By: Don MacAskill

Don MacAskill — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:12:46 +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.