This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
We’re sitting down with leaders on the business side of the creator economy to get their best advice for creators looking to launch and develop their careers. This week, we spoke with Steven Galanis, co-founder and CEO of Cameo.
Cameo is a marketplace which allows users to purchase customizable video shout-outs from their favorite celebrities. Alongside professional athletes, actors, musicians, and more, creators have grown to be major sellers on Cameo, gaining an additional stream of revenue and fun method of fan engagement.
We spoke with Galanis about the origins of Cameo, how internet fame doesn’t always equate to monetization, what the economic downturn means for creators, and more.
Many people know and love Cameo. Since its founding in 2017, the company has spurred an influx of iconic personalized video shout-outs, spanning all kinds of niches—TV stars directing their infamous lines directly to fans, pro-athletes wishing aspiring players luck on their next big game, retired movie stars telling their long-time fans to feel better soon, and beloved YouTubers wishing their followers a happy birthday.
When did the idea of a paid, celebrity video shout-out—the Cameo—take root in its founders’ minds? At the time, Galanis was producing movies alongside his friend and eventual Cameo co-founder, former NFL agent Martin Blencowe. Blencowe got his former client, an NFL star, to record a video message and congratulate a friend on the birth of his son, spurring the idea of a modern selfie-style audiograph for the digital age.
The video shout-out idea expanded when the two met up with Devon Townsend, a Vine Star and another Cameo co-founder, who Galanis said showed him the gap between fame and the reality of making a living.
