His startup Cameo was a unicorn—until it crashed 90%. Here's how he went from near-bankrupt to profitable again. | Steven Galanis, Founder of Cameo

Cameo is one of the best-known recent consumer startups. You've either used it or know someone who's used it to get famous people to create personalized videos. And, for a while, they were a total rocket ship.

Year 1: $300K GMV
Year 2: $4M
Year 3: $20M
Year 4: $100M

They were backed by Jeremy Liew, the VC who seeded Snapchat in 2012. Cameo became a unicorn in 2021. But as the markets turned, revenue decreased, investor interest waned, and their valuation dropped from $1B to $100M. After the restructuring and the layoffs, Steven found a way to turn things around.

Now the company is profitable again. And growing.

Here's how he did it.

Why you should listen:

• Why you don't need liquidity to launch a marketplace.
• How to hack your way to a successful marketplace launch.
• Why organic growth is the way to grow a marketplace. 
• How to turn things around after your valuation crashes by 90%.

Keywords
Cameo, startup, entrepreneurship, product-market fit, celebrity endorsements, marketplace growth, business strategy, VC funding, early-stage startups, innovation, Cameo, gifting, unicorn status, Chicago startup, engagement, COVID-19 impact, business diversification, down rounds, product-market fit

Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:46) Where The Idea for Cameo Came From
(00:11:54) The Client Interface of Cameo in the Early Days
(00:14:12) The Failed launch that Could've Ended it All
(00:21:23) Gaining Momentum
(00:25:37) The Math Behind Cameo
(00:31:27) Becoming a Unicorn
(00:34:34) Meeting Jeremy Liew (the VC who backed Snapchat)
(00:40:47) Engagement on the Platform
(00:43:00) The Impact of Covid
(00:56:06) Finding Product Market Fit
(00:56:30) One Piece of Advice

Send me a message to let me know what you think!