Interview with Sam Odio, founder of Divvyshot

I first found my way to Divvyshot though the Y Combinator site. Y Combinator is an investor in Divvyshot and after just a bit of exploration, it is very easy to see why Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, took an interest in the company. The photo sharing marketplace is certainly crowded. Luckily for Divvyshot, it's a market crowded by many companies who have nearly identical service.

Sam Odio, founder of Divvyshot, identified three holes in the photo sharing market:

1.) Direct integration with the photographer's computer photo library
2.) Ability for multiple people to contribute to one photo album
3.) Maintenance of a photo's original resolution to preserve photo quality while sharing

Like many entrepreneurs, Sam took pain points, things that frustrated him, and crafted a solution. That solution is Divvyshot. I recently had the chance to interview Sam about his company, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his feelings about the current economy.

Christa: What inspired the creation of Divvyshot?

Sam: I had several experiences that made me realize photo sharing is fundamentally broken.

Experience 1 - My girlfriend's father lives in Florida and always wants full resolution copies of her photos. They're both pretty "techie" and have tried several different services (flickr, private peer-to-peer, etc). None of them allowed for the easy transfer of hi-resolution photos. She ended up mailing him CDs of her photos.

Experience 2 - I went to Costa Rica with three other friends. At the end of the trip each of us had about 1GB of photos. After we got back home, there was no easy way to get each other's photos. We tried transferring the photos over our local network - but Windows file sharing failed us. We eventually just passed around a USB drive. The entire process was cumbersome and took about an hour.

Experience 3 - Finally, I went on a cruise with my graduating class with UVA. There were 30 of us and when we took a group picture 30 cameras would come out. This didn't make sense to me - it was the same digital picture but had to be taken 30 times because everyone wanted their own copy. Unfortunately the person who took my group photo set my camera on "video." I got a 4 second shot of the camera panning down while the photographer tried to figure it out. I never ended up getting that group photo - even though low resolution copies of it tantalize me on Facebook.

These three experiences made me realize there needs to be a way to easily sync hi-res photos between computers.

Christa: What does success at Divvyshot look like to you?

Sam: We call it a "sighting in the wild." My goal in life is to build something that changes people's lives on a large scale. I'll know I will have accomplished that when I walk into a coffee shop and see some random person using my product. It'll be a day I won't ever forget!

I get an indescribable rush from people using a product I created. It's awesome to know somebody is using what you built right now and that it's making their life better in some small way.

Christa: How did you decide to make the jump and start your own business?

Sam: I was 17. I still remember that day. At the time I loved computers and was pretty good at fixing them. My brother (who's entrepreneurial) sat me down and convinced me to fix computers instead of getting a typical high school job. With his help I incorporated my first company - "OdioWorks, LLC" I had less than $500 in the bank and spent my first week distributing fliers in parking lots and apartment complexes.

Since then the business has grossed over $1.5MM and still supports me (and Divvyshot too!) I'm no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of OdioWorks, LLC, having since moved on to photo sharing.

Christa: Did you feel any fear when starting your own business? If so, how did you overcome it?

Sam: When running a business you're on an emotional roller coaster. You experience extreme highs and lows. I don't think fear was the emotion I felt - more like despair. I have been able to overcome it by preparing myself for the experience from the get-go. I've read about (and seen first hand) how hard entrepreneurship can be. I told myself the road would be long and it wouldn't be easy. Not expecting to be an "instant success" has helped tremendously. It's a marathon and I just haven't entertained the idea of giving up.

Christa: What advice would you give to people interested in starting their own businesses, particularly in the current economy?

Sam: This is a great time to start a business but a horrible time to find financing for it. If you can bootstrap yourself and survive for the next year or two on your business or savings - then my suggestion would be to go for it. You'll be perfectly poised to grow and gain market share as the economy recovers.