{"id":825,"date":"2016-04-01T18:48:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T18:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flytographer.com\/blog\/flytographer-turns-3\/"},"modified":"2016-04-01T18:48:58","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T18:48:58","slug":"flytographer-turns-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyphotoprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/flytographer-turns-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Flytographer Turns 3 | Top 10 Moments in our Startup Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

See more: Team Flytographer<\/a><\/p>\n

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In front of the wall outside our office. I am greeted everyday with beautiful images from our customers around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Three years ago today, I launched Flytographer\u2019s first website. I was so excited; I told everyone I knew and shared a message on Facebook. Moments after I hit \u201csend,\u201d I started getting messages from friends: \u201cYOUR SITE IS DOWN!\u201d<\/p>\n

Crap.<\/p>\n

I looked up and saw it was intermittently crashing. I was so embarrassed. Our hosting company was having issues, and after hours of emails, calls and pleading, I switched providers the very next morning. Not the most auspicious start. Looking back, I learned bumps like this are par for the course when running a startup. Lots of highs, lows and surprises around every corner.<\/p>\n

In honour of our 3rd birthday, I wanted to share a little peek into our startup story with the top 10 moments so far. It\u2019s been fun for me to reflect on our journey, and dream about what\u2019s coming next. <\/p>\n

xo
Nicole, Founder & CEO<\/p>\n

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1. The IDea BeGINS in Paris<\/h2>\n

Read the story <\/a>about how a trip to Paris with my best friend in October 2011 sparked the idea that set the wheels in my head in motion.<\/p>\n

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Good things happen when dreaming on bridges in Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Test Shoots in Paris, London, Buenos Aires <\/h2>\n

In the fall of 2012, I tapped travelling friends to help me test the concept. Would anyone care? How would the shoot work? Could I find good photographers? I got great feedback from these test shoots that gave me the confidence to keep going.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Paris test shoot with Gon\u00e7alo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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London test shoot with Emiliano<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Our First Customer!!!<\/h2>\n

The website officially launched March 20, 2013, and the first \u201cnon-friend\/family\/coworker, actual-stranger-off-the-internet\u201d<\/em> customer books a shoot in early April. <\/p>\n

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Our first \u201creal\u201d customer ever! Captured by Gon\u00e7alo in Paris<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. Holy cow \u2013 on The Homepage of Today.com!<\/h2>\n

In early May 2013, I was at a walk-in clinic with my son (he had an ear infection). While waiting, I got a message from a writer from Today.com asking to talk to me right away<\/em> about a feature story<\/a>, going live in 2 days. I arranged to call her back two hours later. When the story hit, our site exploded with photographer applications, website hits, and bookings. It was thrilling.<\/p>\n

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No big deal, just hanging out on Today.com with Prince Harry and Angelina Jolie!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. I QUIT THE DAY JOB. GULP.<\/h2>\n

Sales were picking up. Customer feedback was strong. Was it time to jump? Life was crazy unbalanced between consulting full-time at Microsoft and working full-time nights and weekends on Flytographer. Early in 2014, I realized it was finally time go all in. Concerned parents and friends thought I was crazy, but my gut told me to go for it. I was willing to bet the farm \u2013 or at least my house. Yep, crazy! Along with Jen, our Shoot Concierge, and Michelle, our recruiter (then part-time), we prepared to kick some ass.<\/p>\n

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In our \u201coffice\u201d (aka my living room), converted for a Huffington Post feature on Flytographer. Hey, Sara Blakely did it for Spanx when Oprah\u2019s team interviewed her!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6. we MADE FRIENDS<\/h2>\n

With renewed focus, sales grew 600% that year. We signed a partnership agreement with Fairmont Hotels<\/a>, and after that, a global partnership with Context Travel<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

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7. INVESTMENT, AN OFFICE, A TEAM<\/h2>\n

We closed a seed round in late 2014 with local BC-based investors who truly believed in our vision. For the first time, it wasn\u2019t my life savings funding the business, and we now had a budget to hire more team members, invest in marketing, and rent a small office (that wasn\u2019t my living room).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Michelle tracing our logo on the white brick wall, right before painting it on. We heart our office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Every Friday, we prosecco. Cheers! From left: Michelle, Danica, Tedi, Jen, Hayden, Nicole, Tara<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We also hosted our first \u201cGlobal Flytographer Meetup<\/a>\u201d for our photographers in Paris in spring of 2015. Flytographers from around the globe joined us for 3 days of connections, workshops, photo tours, and of course, fabulous wine and cheese! We currently have 350 Flytographers in our family, and they are all amazing human beings. We are excited to see many of them again this spring for our second Global Meetup in Barcelona.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Cute little notebooks for the team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Collage by Flytographer Mankica in Llubljana .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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