Elmar Platzer
Our success will be measured by having enriched the lives of photographers around the world.
What is the elevator pitch for your company?
PhotoMerchant is an e-commerce solution for the photography vertical. Photographers are good at taking great shots but struggle with marketing and doing business online. PhotoMerchant addresses this problem with its e-commerce, drop ship print fulfilment and marketing automation solution. 2,350+ paying customers in Australia and the US to date are currently voting with their wallets, providing PhotoMerchant with a revenue run rate of 700k. With product market fit having been solidly established and with a customer LTV of $973 and a CPA of $79, PhotoMerchant is now looking for expansion capital to scale for growth. PhotoMerchant’s team has a wealth of online & startup experience including a successful $36MM exit.
Where did the idea for your company come from?
It was born out of a need. Our technical co-founder also moonlighted as a semi-pro photographer. A large school formals shoot turned out to be a nightmare to fulfil, and the idea PhotoMerchant was conceived.
How did you meet your co-founders?
We worked together at the same company prior to founding PhotoMerchant.
How did you secure investment in your idea?
Bootstrapped to start with. Then FFF, then a large angel investment. Then from professional investors and high networths via ASSOB. Early investments were secured via my personal contact network and through direct approaches. The latest round was done via ASSOB which required us to take the company public, put together an offer document and pitch the investment opportunity one on one and at pitching events. To date, we have raised $1.25m in Australia at very solid valuations.
What is the most significant hurdle that you have overcome with your company?
What a question! They're countless. But if I had to settle on one it's the lack of capital and the lack of sophisticated investors for tech startups in Australia.
Has anyone in particular influenced your philosophy on how to run your business?
Yes, Ricardo Semmler from Semco from a philosophical point of view and Eric Ries (author of The Lean Startup) from a product development perspective.
Do you have any practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Yes. Not everyone is cut out for this. Unless you're extremely lucky, this is going to be an emotional roller coaster ride of epic proportions. Find a good co-founder, or better still, find two good co-founders. It's a very tough gig trying to do this on your own. The best combination is a commercial, a technical and marketing co-founder. Find a good mentor. And don't be too precious about your idea. You'll stand to gain far more from bouncing your idea around with people who can provide meaningful input than you'll stand to lose. It's the implementation side of the equation that's hard, not coming up with a good idea.
How will you measure your success?
Having built a large and sustainable global business as a result of having enriched the lives of pro, semi-pro and emerging photographers around the world.
