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July 13, 2000

Photozone.com

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Photozone.com

WHO:
A privately held online photography company founded in 1998 by Eric Whitelaw, Paul Moon and Jay Torrell.

WHAT:
Uses digital technology to display and sell photos from special events over the Internet.

WHERE:
Downtown Seattle.

Fast Fact #1: Photozone investors include Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, former Microsoft executive Scott Oki and musician Kenny G.

Comment: They are among several dozen individual investors backing the company, says Steve Fleischmann, chairman of the board. So far, Photozone has shunned funding from venture capital firms. For one things, VCs sometimes want too much control. Besides, the company hasn't needed the money, says Fleischmann. As for a future IPO, the company remains coy.

Musician Kenny G is one of several prominent business people who have invested in the company.

Fast Fact #2: The founders launched the company in Whitelaw's garage.

Comment: They had attended the University of Washington together and were pursuing separate careers when Whitelaw got the idea of using digital cameras to take pictures of guests at special events, display the images on the Internet and sell prints from a Web site. Their first gig was a UW frat party.

Fast Fact #3: Cindy Crawford.

Comment: The supermodel's appearance at last year's Northwest Wine Auction -- and the fact that Fleischmann and Schultz were co-chairing the charity event -- helped give Photozone's founders the break they needed. At the time, Fleischmann was not involved in Photozone. However, he was being wooed by the company's founders as a potential investor. Knowing that "a lot of people would want their pictures taken around Cindy Crawford," Fleischmann decided to test Photozone by inviting the company to photograph the auction.

Fast Fact #4: The auction occurred on the same day as Photozone's biggest assignment to date -- the Amazon.com company picnic.

Comment: After spending all day photographing the picnic, Whitelaw, Moon and Torrell made "Superman changes" into tuxedoes to photograph the auction that night, says Fleischmann. Not only that, but they stayed up past dawn to post 400 pictures on their Web site. "They pulled it off," says Fleischmann, who needed no further wooing. "The entire room was buzzing about Photozone and this concept."

Fast Fact #5: Fleischmann founded and still owns Fleischmann Office Interiors.

Comment: As that business matured, Fleischmann found himself devoting more of his energy to investing -- which was pretty much all he had intended to do at Photozone. However, the founders were short on business experience and asked him to take a more active role. Likewise, president and CEO Natalie Angelillo originally envisioned working only as a part-time consultant after leaving a job as vice president of business affairs at Getty Images. Both say their decisions to join Photozone full-time was a case of "the stars aligning" -- meaning Photozone was "doing the right thing at the right time," says Angelillo.

Fast Fact #6: Widespread Internet access and improvements to digital photography are the keys to Photozone's stellar position.

Comment: They enable Photozone to satisfy the hunger people have to view pictures from special occasions ASAP. "People love it," says Fleischmann. After spending several months refining its proprietary technology and building a network of professional photographers, Photozone announced its national launch in June. With regional offices in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, Photozone offers complete photography services in every major city in the U.S. says Angelillo. The founders retain active roles -- Whitelaw in business development, Moon in operations and Torrell in new markets/creative direction.

Weddings, class reunions, company picnics and conventions are all business opportunities for Photozone to satisfy the hunger people have to view pictures from special occasions ASAP.

Fast Fact #7: Angelillo estimates the market for event photography at $4 billion.

Comment: The possibilities seem endless -- weddings, class reunions, company picnics, conventions. Clients include Microsoft, Starbucks and the Oakland A's baseball team, which employs Photozone to shoot pre- and post-game special events. "The opportunity is huge," says Angelillo, noting no one else is using the Internet to target the event photography market on such a comprehensive scale.

Fast Fact #8: Photozone's slogan is "Your memories have arrived."

Comment: Event guests receive a password to access proof sheets. Pictures are posted on Photozone's Web site within 48 hours. Once customers order their pictures, Photozone prints and ships them within 24 hours. They come in three sizes -- the largest is 8 by 10 -- and they cost between $4 and $12 each.

Fast Fact #9: Photozone also charges a fee to event sponsors.

Comments: It starts at $500 and increases according to the demands of the event and how many photographers are needed. Photozone relies on partnerships with established event photographers to handle the actual photography. Photographers then upload their images to Photozone's servers and Photozone takes it from there.

Fast Fact #10: Angelillo predicts profitability within a year.

Comment: She also predicts Photozone eventually will branch into video and may start selling digital versions of photos instead of offering only hard copies. In addition, her crystal ball shows Photozone with regional offices in all 15 of the nation's largest cities by the end of the year -- with international expansion to follow.



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