[ayushgta]

Sometime in early 2000s, I had a meeting with Chris. It was early days for them and they were running out of their home. This was the time when Flickr was a darling of the valley (and wasn't acquired by Yahoo yet).

Chris and I were talking, sitting around a dining table with a bench and some chairs. I remember there was a lot of light and windows all around. Don (his son) was going in and out of the house taking delivery of some hardware/servers. Toni (his wife) was handling customer support from a room upstairs. And there was a dog, I think. That's it!

It was a breath of fresh air for me! In a place that has a deep-rooted infatuation with building products on raised capital, they were running their company as a small business. They were going up against giants like Snapfish, Shutterfly, Google, Yahoo and a bunch of others in a crowded space. Unlike those giants, they were charging money for their service! And they had the audacity of doing it under the name SmugMug. I recall Chris grinning about how much some people hated the name SmugMug!

This was the only time I met them. I've thought back to that meeting many times over the years. It was inspiring for me to see software/technology being used build something for a niche need... with a clear focus on running it as a small business. I found that to be uplifting then and I still do today.

Every couple of years I'd go to their site and see how they continued to grow. And each time it would bring a smile to my face. That they ended up buying Flickr is so darn sweet... I could not hoped for a better cherry-on-top to how I personally view the SmugMug story.

[alexdong]

Chris was the founder of fatbrain which went the ”traditional way”. So I guess he learned a few things there.

What’s interesting about photo related business is that longevity really matters. It’s hard to imagine handing your family memories to a fast-pivot-exit-happy “startup”. There are many YC companies founded in this area but none had survived so far?

[foobaw]

It's good to hear how much audacity it takes to succeed. I love stories where hard work really pays off.

I'm a relatively late adopter (2009) but I really loved Smugmug from the start. As someone into both technology and photography, Smugmug was the perfect product! I remember really wanting to work for them as a college student - everything about the company was extremely motivating. It still is.

[wowtip]

Heh I reported a problem to Smugmug with their payment service for my credit card company which prevented me from purchasing a subscription.

Their response? "Yeah, we know, it doesn't work with Credit Card Company AAAA yet, but thanks for telling us. Here, have a lifetime free pro account"