Snapwire: On-demand, custom photos from proven photographers

Chad Newell

CEO

Before Snapwire, Chad founded and served as CEO of Media Bakery, served as a COO for ImageState PLC, and helped build Getty Images' Image Bank Footage Division

Ryan Dewane

Creative Director and Product

Ryan's an active photographer and leads product development and creative direction. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder focusing on marketing and has worked for several startups.

Lexi Lim

Corporate Assignment & Community

Leads all corporate assignment needs. Lexi studied Communication and Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a photographer and loves all things creative.

Investor Q&A

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What does your company do?

Snapwire connects proven photographers, who shoot authentic & affordable royalty-free photos, to businesses & brands. Today's stock photos are overused and outdated. With Snapwire, brands call the shot, set a price, provide inspiration and 300K photographers take the challenge to shoot the perfect photos. Submissions are reviewed and licensed. Finding a stock photo to match a brand's story is like finding a needle in a haystack. Not anymore. Let affordable custom photos come to you.

Where will your company be in 5 years?

Commercial photography is a $10 billion market, with 61% of revenue coming from commissioned work and 39% coming from stock photo libraries. Snapwire combines the best of both worlds, allowing customers to both browse our massive photo database or commission specific shoots. We're scrapping the traditional photography model and bringing it to 2017. Even Adobe has partnered with us. Next up? Recently released features expand our service into the consumer needs space.

What is snapwire?

Snapwire is a hybrid stock photography agency where we give a new generation of photographers the opportunity to sell their photos to the brands and businesses that they care about. A customer, who typically spends hours upon hours looking for a stock photo, can now use Snapwire to create a brief and describe what they're looking for and then broadcast that out to an army of over 300,000 photographers around the globe. Those photographers respond (many in real time) with their best shots by the required deadline. Buyers then nominate their favorite shots, photographers earn points and then they purchase their favorites. Anything that is nominated by the buyer or identified by our team is deemed a quality image and it automatically becomes available in our marketplace, which is a growing stock photo library. Even though you, as the photographer, may not be chosen as the winner of a particular request, your work can migrate over to this growing library of 2.5 million photos for a chance to earn money in the future. Photos directly uploaded to a photographer’s profile also become available for purchase as well. Everyone wins on Snapwire.

How is this different from using traditional stock photos?

It takes an excessive amount of time to find the right photo. As an image buyer, you are effectively limited in what you are able to find because of the vast volumes of photos on stock photo sites, and eventually, you often compromise and retrofit your creative vision into a ‘canned look’. On Snapwire, you don’t have to settle. You can request a custom photo that matches your brand story and have it delivered to right to you.

How does Snapwire work for the photographers?

When a photographer uploads hundreds of photos to a typical stock photo archive, they have to go through the ridiculous process of key-wording those photos, submitting them to a review, and then seeing most of the photos rejected. At Snapwire, we have an ethos of humanizing our photographers and their work. When you ask our roster of photographers for photos, you see who they are, where they are located, and what style they shoot. We pay photographers up to 70% when their photos sell on an assignment, and 50% when the photo sells in the stock photo library.

How does a buyer find the perfect image?

Snapwire meets image buyers at their behavior. We have a traditional search box where you can search our entire existing archive, or if you're looking for a custom photo, you can create a Photo Request or launch a Photo Challenge to harvest a photo you want. Buyers simply title their Request, set a price and deadline, and describe what the photo will be used for.

Where did the idea for Snapwire come from?

Our founding team has been in the stock photography game for almost two decades, starting at companies like Getty Images before they were even online. DSLR cameras made it possible for every photographer to become a professional photographer. We also founded a company in 2001 called Media Bakery, which is one of North America's largest independent aggregate stock photos sites. It's a boutique, but it has 10 million images and it's still in operation today. In 2013, we waited for the iPhone 5s to come out. That was when the camera that everybody had in their pocket (the one on their phone), had the ability to produce high quality photos that could potentially be sold in traditional stock photo archives. At the same time, there was this massive influx of talented Instagram photographers maxing out on the number of like and followers. We thought to give them the ultimate validation when one of their photos sold commercially to a brand they cared about. That's how Snapwire started.

Tell us about Snapwire in its beta stage.

When Snapwire came out of beta in 2014, we were 60,000 photographers deep. We had to have enough high quality photographers so that customers received a successful, meaningful experience. We had to also make sure there were enough buyers on the platform to ensure photographers got to sell their photos. It was a carefully measured roll-out strategy to make sure Snapwire didn't tip one way or the other. Public relations and marketing were critical. We built an early beta sign-up gauge and distributed that through a series of influencers in the Instagram community. We tried to create as much buzz as possible. We worked with highly influential photographers on Instagram with lots of followers. We strategically stayed in private beta to build this list of people who would distribute early invites to our iOS app and web app.

How successful have you been since launch?

The more high quality photographers we have over time, the more high quality content we'll be able to offer in our marketplace. We made it a goal to get to 175,000 photographers by January of 2015, and we did that. At the end of 2015 we wanted to get to at least 200,000 photographers, and we did that. Today we're at 300,000 registered photographers, and every day I think there are about 300 photographers who sign up and download our app.

How do you meet the needs of both high-end and low-budget image buyers?

We want authentic content that doesn't look like a canned stock photo. Even the highest, top of the triangle type clients, use stock photography. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s an opportunity for that Squarespace designer who thought he could never afford an assignment, and now he can launch a Snapwire request for $25. Alternatively, he can go to the marketplace and buy something that has already been shot.

How do you make money?

We keep a percentage of each transaction. In every quick flow, a photographer keeps 70%, Snapwire keeps 30%. For the marketplace, Snapwire keeps 50%, users 50%. In other marketplaces like Getty or Shutterstock, photographers earn 17% and 23% respectively. When I sell a photo on Shutterstock, or Fotalia, or Adobe Stock, I get $1.60. On Snapwire, the average photographer pay out is in the $40 range per sale.

What is Snapwire's immediate plan and grand vision for the future?

My plan is to target the East Coast and start doing special acquisitions through a very traditional stock photo sale cycle. We also have some unique, strategic partnerships developing. Getty Images uses Snapwire to source content for its archive. We have our own collection on Getty Images. It looks like Shutterstock will be doing the same thing with us. Agencies you think would be in competition with us are using Snapwire to build collections for their own agencies. That's another big strategic move for us. We also want to give more tools to our photographers so they can upload photos to our platform in volume. The more high quality images we have on the platform, the more frequent successful searches we will have. That ultimately means more sales.

Who is your competition?

The largest incumbents are Getty Images, which owns iStock; Shutterstock, which owns Offset; and Adobe Stock, which is a new player to the game that recently acquired Fotolia. Those people are in a traditional marketplace library format. They won't necessarily get into the assignment model anytime soon, until we validate it . Their inventory is either sold on an a-la-carte basis or in a subscription basis and they continue to focus and double-down on that. The other competition is this new generation of stock photo agencies, or user generated agencies. Those would be IM, 500px, and perhaps even Twenty20. Nobody's leading the space like Snapwire with assignments. I think with over 5,000 assignments launched on their platform in two years, we are the number one leading platform for a scalable assignment platform.

What does your software look like?

We have a web app for both photographers and buyers. Buyers use the web app to launch their request. Photographers use the web app to upload photos from the desktop or cloud, to answer those requests. Then we have three mobile apps. We have two mobile apps that are exclusively for photographers. I think we're first in class on design when it comes to our mobile apps, and I think we will continue to be that way.

What key features do you still need to build?

When you're a platform builder, development must be agile. You work while you're listening to your customers, getting that feedback then do sprints. We practice sprints and agile scrambler flow at Snapwire. We're constantly building to create more features to service the buyers and the photographers. We have a new set of tools coming out for photographers that will help them sell their work and enhance their work as they sell it. We have yet to look at monetizing our photographer community. I think there's a big opportunity to do that on Snapwire. On the buyer's side we launched through these creative briefs, and this extension of custom stock photography, but it's quickly moving into localized content. I can see a path to servicing the demand for weddings and localized consumer based photography needs. I think that's going to be on the horizon in the future.

What's been one of your biggest challenges?

One of our early founding team members left the company very early in our life cycle. That was a huge blow—but instead of running around with our hair on fire, we were diligent about offloading the responsibility. We hit the ground running and picked it back up. Oftentimes, those huge events that seem so dangerous and detrimental are blessings in disguise. They force you to recover, rebound, and soon you realize the company is now in a stronger position. Funding was also a challenge in 2015. The company's runway was short. It takes a bit of tenacity and insanity to make it work.

Why are you looking to raise money now?

We want our community to become invested in what we were doing. We have a strong community as it is. Why not let them participate in future rewards? Our users should be the ones to have the most return on their investment if possible. Snapwire's exit strategy could be anything from VC financing up to possible acquisition. We can make one of those two goals happen with the company. Our community who built this with us should participate in that reward.

Who are your founding team members?

Snapwire's been incubated inside the walls of Media Bakery which is a traditional stock photo agency, and a lot the developers who work on Snapwire are veterans in the space. The core team of Ryan, Dwayne, and I (Chad) do social marketing, Ryan does creative direction and relations, and photographer relationships as well. These are people that have a strong grasp of the Instagram community. They're photographers by trade. They have great visual eyes as well as aesthetics for brand. Then there’s me who has the most experience and knows the buyer relationships well.

What was your previous experience?

I have always been a stock photo junkie. After graduating college, I went to work for a company called the Image Bank, which was acquired by Getty Images as they brought all the stock photo industry online. In the early days, I was shipping transparencies to art directors via FedEx before stock photos lived on the web. Later, I worked at an agency called Adventure Photo and Film and helped that business get acquired, where I later became the chief operating officer of that business. In 2001, my wife and I started Media Bakery, which gave us the background and confidence to launch Snapwire.

How is snapwire's current financial situation

Snapwire is healthy financially, with a net cash in per month of around $50-180K, depending on seasonality. Expenses per month average around 10K, but are projected to increase to around $20K by Q1 2017. As of December 2016, Snapwire's cash position was $64,446.37. Snapwire has approximately $135,000.00 of Account Receivables which we expect to receive no later than January 17, 2017, exclusively from our relationship with Google, Inc.

1	1800 clients worldwide such as LinkedIn, Scholastic, Google, and Hertz
2	Over 330,000 photographers in 180 countries
3	15K people sign up for Snapwire every single month
4	Partners include Adobe and Google
5	Previously raised $180K from 164 accredited and non-accredited investors with Reg CF

1	Snapwire is a development-stage company with limited operating history, minimal operating capital, no significant assets and no revenue from operations. If we cannot raise enough investment capital in the future, we may not survive. We have minimal operating capital and, even if we raise $750,000 in this offering, for the foreseeable future we will be dependent upon our ability to finance our operations from the sale of additional equity or other financing alternatives. We have a history of accumulated deficits that may continue into the foreseeable future. Startups often depend on raising several rounds of additional capital until they’re profitable. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully raise operating capital. The failure to successfully raise operating capital could result in our bankruptcy or other event which would have a material adverse effect on us and our stockholders. We have no significant assets or financial resources, so the failure to raise sufficient operating capital could put your investment dollars at significant risk. Between September 21st, 2016 and December 9, 2016, we conducted an equity crowdfunding offering on StartEngine.com where we successfully raised $176,794. Prior to commencing the offering, from approximately August 1, 2015 to March 1, 2016, we had received indications from potential investors interested in investing in an offering of approximately $13,000,000 from 2,300 potential investors in two Test The Waters Campaigns while the company explored the possibility of raising proceeds under Title IV of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS) of 2012. On this offering, there can be no assurance that potential investors who expressed interest in investing during our Test The Waters Campaigns will invest in this present offering on WeFunder. At this time we do not have plans to conduct an offering under Title IV of the JOBS Act.
2	Competition in our industry is intense, and we may not be able to compete successfully. The mobilestock/microstock image industry is highly competitive. Our competitors have greater financial and other resources than we do. Increased competition has caused the mobilestock/microstock industry to change, as our competitors seek to lower costs, further inWe must continue to attract and retain both photography creators and photography buyers in order for our business to be successful. Our business is equally dependent upon two groups of people: those who take photographs and want to make them available for licensing and those who need photographs for various uses and are willing to pay for a use license. Our business cannot be successful – cannot operate – if we have one group but not the other. In addition, the numbers of creators and users each must continue to grow or our business could suffer. If the number of photo users does not grow, we may not be able to attract large numbers of photographers and encourage them to use and continue to use our website to post their work. If the number of photographers – and the photos they produce – does not grow, we may not be able to attract and retain large numbers of photography users who demand a steady supply of fresh, new material from which to choose. Our business also depends on constantly improving photography quality. If we are unable to attract higher skilled and talented photographers to our website, we may not be able to attract the larger, higher paying photo customers, such as large corporations and advertising agencies. Conversely, if we aren’t attracting more prestigious photo users, we may not be able to attract top-rated photographers.creasing pressure on the industry’s profit margins. Heightened competition, significant pricing initiatives or discount programs established by competitors or new entrants could create additional competitive pressures that reduce margins and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
3	Our goal of generating a greater percentage of our revenue from large companies could require more resources to provide the services required, which could increase our operating costs and hurt our business. Part of our growth strategy is to focus on attracting more of the larger companies that have digital image needs. Historically most of our revenue has come from medium- and small-sized companies. By working with larger companies, we may face increased service requirements, greater indemnification requirements, more intense pricing pressure, and the need for additional working capital to accommodate the larger receivables and collections issues that are likely to occur as a result of being paid on credit terms. If we are unable to adequately address those demands, it may affect our ability to work with greater numbers of large companies, which may adversely affect our results of operations and future growth.
4	We may not be able to increase the awareness of our brand in the marketplace as quickly or as effectively as is necessary to insure revenue growth. To increase revenues we must expand our photographer and photo-user pools. To accomplish this, we must increase our visibility in the marketplace. Potential customers and image creators must be aware we exist and be able to find us. We need to demonstrate how our website can be useful to them. That could require us to devote more resources to marketing efforts, including advertising and other expenses, to build public awareness of our brand. Even with an enhanced marketing effort, there is no guarantee that we will be able to increase the number of new visitors to our website and in turn, convert them into contributing photographers or paying customers. Any number of conditions could affect the success of our marketing efforts, including a poorly executed campaign, the failure to expand our photo library to keep customers coming back for more, or an inability to keep up with new technologies, which could have a negative impact on user experience with our website and adversely affect our results of operations and future growth.
5	Our photographers are free to post the images they create on multiple microstock platforms, including our competitors’ websites. Conforming to the industry standard, we do not limit where our photographers can post their images online. The exception is if the photographer agrees to an exclusivity deal with Snapwire. Otherwise, a particular photo can be available for licensing in numerous Internet marketplaces in addition to ours, which means we could lose potential revenue if customers choose to buy that photo through another website. In addition, having a photographer’s work available on other websites could hurt our branding efforts to distinguish ourselves from our competition and could cause confusion for customers, which could hurt our financial condition.
6	Expanding beyond our current business model could result in additional risks. We intend to add new services on our website, such as offering video or listing local photographers who will accept in-person photo assignments. These or other new services could result in new costs of doing business. There could be new expenses associated with tackling new and different competition, meeting new infrastructure requirements and solving new legal and regulatory challenges. We can’t guarantee revenues earned from providing new services will cover potential expenses.
7	If we engage in mergers or acquisitions, or if we invest in new businesses, we will be subject to additional risks. We may acquire new businesses, invest in or enter into joint ventures with other businesses, develop new businesses internally or close or consolidate businesses. Failure to execute on any of these in a satisfactory manner could adversely affect our future results of operations and financial condition. Performance of any of these efforts may divert attention of management from operating our existing business and we may not effectively evaluate target companies, investments or investment partners or assess the risks, benefits and cost of buying, investing in or closing businesses or of the integration of acquired businesses. These activities may not meet our performance and other expectations and may expose us to unexpected or greater-than-expected costs, liabilities and risks.
8	The threat of unauthorized use of our photography is ever-present and is a source of lost revenue. Although intellectual property laws are designed to protect our images, they can’t always be effectively enforced, especially in certain countries outside of the United States. Therefore there is always the threat of people using our photos without authorization and without paying a licensing fee. We cannot guarantee this won’t happen and if it does, it equates to money lost. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to prevent the unauthorized use of our digital imagery or that we will be successful in stopping such use once it is detected. In addition, there is the chance that photographers posting on our website and our customers may attempt to bypass our services and work with each other directly, outside of Snapwire’s platform. Such behavior would be in violation of our terms of use agreement and would result in lost revenues.
9	We may be subject to infringement claims by third parties asserting rights to photographs on our website. Photographers must affirm that they hold the rights or releases to the photographs they submit for licensing on our website. Even though we have a review process, we cannot guarantee that all photos in our library are properly released. As a result, we may be subject to infringement claims or other legal action by third parties. Because of this possibility, we indemnify all photo buyers for up to $10,000 in legal costs and damages they incur from using an image they license from us. We also offer special contracts and agreements for some customers with larger indemnification amounts. If we are unable to maintain sufficient insurance coverage for financial reasons to protect us from losses, our business could be affected. Any claim against us whether meritorious or not could hurt us financially, harm our reputation and affect the success of our business.
10	Any third-party claims of infringement or other intellectual property rights violations could be costly and could substantially hurt our business. Third parties may in the future assert that we have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights, and as we face increasing competition, the possibility of intellectual property rights claims against us grows. Existing laws and regulations are evolving and subject to different interpretations, and new laws or regulations may be enacted. It is possible that we are or will be infringing on or violating third-party intellectual property rights or rights related to technology use. It may be necessary to devote significant personnel time and financial resources to defending against infringement or misappropriation claims. If judgment is against us, we may be required to pay damages and attorneys’ fees; we may be ordered to cease making, licensing or using content that we infringed or misappropriated; we may be forced to expend additional development resources to redesign our technology; we may have to enter into potentially unfavorable royalty or license agreements in order to use necessary technologies, content, or materials; and we may need to indemnify our partners and other third parties. Royalty or licensing agreements may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, or not available at all.
11	If we fail to protect our intellectual property, our business could be harmed. We make a significant effort to protect our intellectual property rights including our trade secrets, trademarks, copyright and those rights pertaining to our online marketplace and search algorithms. Even with our efforts to protect our rights, there is a possibility that parties lacking authorization will attempt to copy our intellectual property and use our trade secrets. If that should happen, our business could be harmed. In addition, we may be forced into litigation, which often is expensive and time-consuming, to protect our trade-secret rights. The outcome of such litigation could have a negative impact on our competitive position. We also may need to protect our intellectual property rights in proceedings before governmental administrative bodies both in the U.S. and abroad. Keeping watch over those rights may become more difficult and costly as we expand into new countries, especially those lacking strong laws protecting intellectual property. Our efforts to protect our property rights could be a drain on our resources and affect our business bottom line. We also may fail to obtain or maintain trade secret protection, and as a result, our competitors could acquire our trade secrets or independently develop unpatented technology similar to ours or competing technologies, which could adversely affect our competitive business position.
12	We hold trademarks for our brand names and own our Internet domain name. Any unauthorized use of those names or challenges to our rights to them could affect our business. We have registered the name “Snapwire” as a trademark in the United States. Even so, our competitors could choose to use our names or purchase rights to names similar to ours as Internet search terms, which could cause confusion for the public and interfere with our efforts to build our brand. There also is the possibility that owners of other trademarks with elements similar to our name could make infringement claims against us, which could harm our reputation and affect our business. We own the www.snapwi.re Internet domain name and various other related domain names. However, domain regulatory bodies could change their policies and rules in ways that will have an impact on the effectiveness of our brand-identifying domain name in the United States or in other countries where we conduct business now or in the future and that could affect the success of our business.
13	If we do not successfully integrate past or potential future acquisitions, our business could be adversely affected. We may pursue acquisitions in the future to enhance our business offerings. The benefits resulting from an acquisition could take a significant amount of time to – or may never – emerge. Future acquisitions or investments could result in dilutive issuances of equity securities, use of large amounts of cash or incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or amortization expenses. Any of these could adversely affect our financial condition. In addition, integration of a new company's operations, assets and personnel with ours could consume a considerable amount of management’s time. There are other potential risks associated with acquisitions, including outstanding, unforeseen or hidden liabilities, information security weaknesses, inability to generate revenue to offset the cost of acquiring a company, and the potential for losing or harming relationships with our customers, suppliers and employees.
14	We may need to raise additional capital in the future with no guarantee we will be able to do so on acceptable terms or at all. We expect to continue to invest in our business to help it grow and we may require additional funds for such things as infrastructure and technology improvements, developing new website features, adding to our personnel or acquiring a company. We may need to seek equity or debt financings. If either or both were to happen, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any future debt financing could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters. That could make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our business growth could suffer and our ability to respond to business challenges could be harmed.
15	The processes we use to collect customer payments carry potential risks that could affect our operating costs and harm our financial condition. We pay fees for certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, which could increase in the future and affect our operating costs. In addition, as new payment methods become available, new regulations and the potential for fraud may have a negative impact on our operations. If rules and certification requirements related to electronic funds transfers should change to the point where we could no longer comply with them or it would be difficult to do so, we could face fines or higher transaction fees or lose the option of accepting credit or debit card payments. A number of laws and regulations relating to money laundering, international money transfers, privacy and information security and electronic fund transfers apply to us. If we were found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties or be closed down altogether.
16	The non-payment of amounts due to us from certain of our larger customers may negatively impact our financial condition. Our revenue generated through direct sales to large organizations has grown and historically represented less than 15% of our total revenue. In 2017, we anticipate generating revenue from at least one customer that may represent greater than 20% of our total revenue. Some of our major customers purchase our products on credit and therefore we assume a credit risk for non-payment in the ordinary course of business. Although we evaluate the credit-worthiness of new customers and perform ongoing financial condition evaluations of our existing customers, there can be no assurance that our allowances for uncollected accounts receivable balances will be sufficient. As our direct sales continue to grow, we expect to increase our allowance for doubtful accounts primarily as the result of increased sales to customers who pay on credit.
17	The risk of earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters plus human-caused disruption such as crime or terrorism could have a negative impact on our business. Interruption of our operations caused by a natural disaster such as an earthquake or human impact such as a break-in, terrorist attack, human error or computer failure could negatively and materially affect our financial condition. This is especially true if our insurance coverage is insufficient to cover our losses. Our servers also may be vulnerable to computer viruses and hackers, which could cause business interruptions or delays or loss of proprietary information, including private customer data, which could negatively affect our business. Because we are a web-based business, fully functioning and dependable technological operations are essential. If they were to fail even temporarily, we could face high maintenance costs as well as run the risk of losing our customers and our contributing photographers, which would be harmful to our business.
18	If we experience significant growth and we fail to effectively manage it, our business and operating results may suffer. If we experience significant growth, we will experience demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure that will require us to commit substantial financial, operational and technical resources to management. Continued growth could also strain our ability to maintain reliable operation of our online marketplaces for our customers and contributors, develop and improve our operational, financial and management controls, enhance our reporting systems and procedures and recruit, train and retain highly skilled personnel. If our operations grow, we will need to improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure, which will require significant expenditures and allocation of valuable management resources. If we fail to allocate limited resources effectively in our organization as it grows, our business, operating results and financial condition will suffer.
19	Because the mobilestock industry is relatively new and constantly changing, it is difficult to project our performance and whether we will be successful. Our operational history is limited and our business plan is based on assumptions about the digital photography market that may or may not prove to be accurate. The demand for in-the-moment photos shot on cell-phone cameras may not be as healthy as we think and may not have the growth potential we are forecasting. In addition, we may not be able to meet the needs of the evolving marketplace. For example, we may not be able to retain our existing customers and attract new ones, provide the type of photography they demand, compete with other mobile stock providers or keep pace with technological advances required to accommodate and satisfy a growing customer and photographer base located in the United States and abroad. Because of our relatively brief history, we cannot guarantee we will overcome all hurdles in our path and you should not look at our past growth achievements as indicators of future success.
20	The mobilestock (microstock) industry is extremely competitive and that could hamper our ability to succeed. The mobilestock or microstock industry encompasses companies that source their photos almost exclusively through the Internet. They accept images that are shot by amateurs as well as professional photographers and they license them for relatively low prices and royalty free. The industry is getting more and more crowded as cell-phone camera technological advances make it easier for greater numbers of people to take quality photographs. The result could be lower prices paid for photos, thinner profit margins and a reduction of our share of the market. Our competition includes everything from other online image marketplaces such as Shutterstock, Twenty20 and Fotolia, to stock photo agencies like Getty Images, to photo-sharing websites like Instagram to traditional commissioned photographers and photo agencies. Many of our competitors are larger and better capitalized than we are. Our competitive edge could be affected by the competition’s pricing strategies, the amount of resources they devote to marketing efforts, the public’s awareness of their brands and their quicker response to advances in technology. In addition, we may not be able to compete with the fees paid to contributing photographers or the ease-of-use of competing online platforms. If photographers stop uploading content to our website or remove past content, our business will suffer. If the competition develops new products or technologies, our offerings could be seen as less desirable to the buyers of digital images, which could adversely affect our financial condition.
21	The number of competitors could grow as technology makes it easier to enter the microstock space. The barriers are relatively low for creating a microstock website and that, along with the potentially huge market for digital images thanks to social media, could add to the competition we face. New competitors could have the ability to raise large amounts of money, and through ambitious marketing could surpass our brand awareness. They could siphon off both our paying customers and our contributing photographers, which could hurt our business.
22	Plans to expand our international operations could affect our financial condition. Expanding our international presence is an important aspect of our plans for growth. With those efforts come potential costs and risks that could affect our business success. We do not have experience operating abroad and working with different languages, cultures, government regulations and legal systems. We may need to devote substantial time and resources to opening branch offices in foreign countries, learning to satisfy the preferences and needs of foreign markets, understanding and complying with local laws and regulations applicable to our business, protecting our intellectual property rights beyond the reach of U.S. protections, and navigating foreign tax laws that could be financially detrimental. We may not be able to meet our goals for international expansion.
23	Much of our business depends on our customers’ advertising and marketing budgets, which fluctuate with the state of the world economy. Demand for digital images tends to ebb and flow with the size of corporate marketing budgets. The healthier the budgets for marketing and advertising campaigns, the greater the need for large numbers of photos, which helps our business to thrive. In this way, our financial condition is tied in with the world economy. When the economy is weak, companies may cut their advertising expenditures and their need for photos. During hard economic times, we may be unable to retain our existing customers or attract enough new ones, which could cause our business to suffer.
24	Changes in currency exchange rates could have an adverse impact on our business. Our business results are expressed in U.S. dollars, including revenues and expenditures originating in other countries where local currency is used. The currency exchange rate – the status of the U.S. dollar as compared to the rest of the world’s currency – could dictate whether our revenues meet expectations. A strong U.S. dollar, for example, could result in decreased revenues after conversion of foreign money. Similarly, we pay our contributing photographers based abroad in U.S. dollars. When the dollar is strong, that expenditure is higher. As exchange rates vary, our sales and other operating results may differ materially from what was projected. Our revenue from international sources is immaterial at this time.
25	We must insure that our website always provides for a positive user experience in order to encourage customer loyalty. If we are unable to meet both our photographers’ and photo users’ expectations for using our website, our business could suffer. Photo buyers must be able to search for and find the image they are looking for quickly and efficiently. Purchasing that photo and downloading it at the desired resolution must be a simple process. Photo creators must be able to quickly and easily upload their pictures, including from mobile electronic devices. If we are unable to keep our search algorithms, our mobile applications, and our upload and download technology up-to-date and as effective or better than our competitors’ systems, we may not be able to retain our existing customers and photographers or attract new ones.
26	We must routinely upgrade our technology to stay current and competitive in order to continue to grow. To stay competitive, we must insure our technology infrastructure is up to date so that it functions without disruption and our website continues to have the features the market demands. For financial and other reasons, we may not be able to keep up with the pace of improvement enjoyed by our competitors and as a result, we may lose business. We currently do not have specific plans for any infrastructure upgrades that would require significant capital investment. In the future we will need to improve and upgrade our technology, database systems and network infrastructure in order to allow our business to grow in both size and scope.
27	If access to our website or the functioning of our online services is interrupted due to technological issues, our reputation and results of our business operations could be negatively affected. Our customers and the photographers who use our website expect it to be operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Anything less could cause them to think negatively about us and could discourage them from doing business with us, which could hurt our financial condition. A technological breakdown that leaves our website inaccessible even for a brief period could result in negative publicity and damage to our reputation that could take a long time to repair. A loss of website function could happen anyway due to any number of factors, including online viruses, security breaches, network or power failures or a high volume of visitor traffic. In addition, our operations could be negatively affected by a service failure on the part of third-party companies we hire and depend on for maintenance of our data centers, hosting of our applications and keeping us connected to the Internet, among other services. If these companies become undependable or unavailable, our business could be adversely affected. Depending on the cause of the service interruption, we may not be able to correct it quickly or at all.
28	We could be subject to hackers and other cyber-criminals despite our security measures, putting our customers’ private information at risk and exposing us to possible litigation and loss of reputation. The security measures we take to protect confidential information we collect from our customers – especially credit card information – may not be able to prevent all cybercrime attacks. If our systems are invaded by hackers, viruses, malware or other attackers, confidential information could be misappropriated and our operations could be interrupted and violated. Our computer systems and data could be compromised without our being aware of it. The result could be expenditure of significant amounts of money to add protection against security breaches or to repair the damage done. We also could harm relationships we have with payment networks, which might ban us from processing our customer transactions. In addition, if third-party services we use to conduct our business, like email, were interrupted or if they threatened confidential data, we could face expensive litigation. The result of serious security breaches could be the loss of business and loss of our reputation, which could affect our financial condition. We also could be found in violation of state, federal and international law, exposing us to fines, lawsuits, criminal penalties and other costs. The technologies we depend on to secure the transmission of confidential information are licensed from third parties and could malfunction or could be breached. In addition, the vendors providing our co-location and cloud services may not have the capability to sufficiently prevent security breaches and other issues that could affect the integrity of information that is stored in and passed through their systems. We are liable if fraudulent credit card transactions occur because we don’t collect a cardholder’s signature. However our insurance policy protects us from significant loss due to credit card fraud. We so far have not suffered major losses from credit card fraud but the risk is ever present.
29	Because we have developed some of our technology using “open source” software, restrictions may apply as to how we use or distribute our services or we may be required to publicly release portions of our source code. Open source software sometimes is subject to third-party licenses that could restrict our software and services. These licenses generally require the source code that is covered to be made available to the public, including any modifications that have been made. If portions of our proprietary technology is deemed covered by an open-source license, we could be ordered to release them to the public or re-engineer those portions, or we might be limited in the licensing of our technologies. If any of these events were to occur, the value of our services and technologies could decline or the need for them eliminated, which would adversely affect our ability to stay in business or to grow.
30	Our business hinges on a strong and dependable Internet. If the Internet infrastructure should decline in its capabilities, making it less useful and less desirable of a communications tool, our business could be adversely affected. Our business depends on continued maintenance of the Internet infrastructure to support uninterrupted access to the services it provides or will provide. This includes accommodating expected growing numbers of users and increasing bandwidth requirements. Issues related to viruses, malware and other programs that affect the Internet’s performance, causing outages and service delays, could negatively affect our business operations.
31	As government regulation of the Internet evolves, our business could be adversely affected. Changes in laws governing the Internet could make it more difficult for us to conduct our business. Depending on what actions lawmakers in the United States and abroad take, the Internet could become less popular among the public and its growth could stagnate. New laws or new legal interpretations could affect such things as online contracts, credit card fraud, advertising, taxation, privacy, copyrights, consumer protection, intellectual property infringement and more. The cost to comply with new laws or regulations could be significant and would increase our operating expenses. Different countries around the world may implement more restrictive laws than the U.S. Plus, many of the laws that are being applied to Internet commerce remain untested in the courts, leaving unanswered questions about future enforcement and their impact on our business and financial condition. We must keep abreast of differing Internet-related laws in all of the countries in which we provide content licensing. Failing to comply could affect our business operations.
32	Our future success depends on our management team and our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel. Our future success largely depends on our founder, sole director and chief executive officer, Chad Newell, who has extensive experience in the stock-photo industry. If he or other members of our management team, including technical and marketing personnel, were to leave Snapwire, we might not be able to find replacements who could implement our business strategy. This could have a material adverse impact on our business, our financial condition and results of operations. If any of our managers were to join or start a new, competing business, we could lose customers and photographers. There could be costs involved in recruiting and retaining replacement personnel. We do not hold “key person” life insurance. We may not be able to attract additional employees we might need in the future in order to effectively manage and grow our company, which would affect our success.
33	Failure to preserve our corporate culture as our company grows could have an impact on our staff’s ability to remain innovative and work effectively as a team. We have invested time and energy in developing a team of employees that values and encourages innovation and creativity. If we were to lose our company culture as we are transformed into a public and growing company, pursuit of our corporate objectives could be compromised and our business could suffer.
34	No public trading market for your shares exists, and we do not have plans presently to apply for listing of our shares on any securities exchanges or online securities marketplaces. Consequently, it will be difficult for you to sell your shares and, if you are able to sell your shares, you will likely sell them at a substantial discount to the public offering price. The shares offered hereby may not be sold or transferred for one year. There is no public market for our shares, and we currently have no plans to list our shares on a stock exchange or other trading market. Until our shares are listed, if ever, you may not sell your shares unless the buyer meets the applicable suitability and minimum purchase standards. If you are able to sell your shares, you would likely have to sell them in an illiquid market at a substantial discount to the price you paid for the shares in this offering. It is also likely that your shares would not be accepted as the primary collateral for a loan. Because of the illiquid nature of our shares, you should purchase our shares only as a long-term investment and be prepared to hold them for an indefinite period of time.
35	If we do not successfully implement a liquidity transaction, you may have to hold your investment for an indefinite period, and we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Our charter does not require our board of directors (our sole director) to pursue a liquidity transaction. Market conditions and other factors could cause us to avoid a liquidation or other type of liquidity transaction, such as a merger or sale of assets. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to liquidate all assets. If we do not pursue a liquidity transaction, or delay such a transaction due to market conditions, your shares may continue to be illiquid and you may, for an indefinite period of time, be unable to convert your investment to cash easily and you could suffer losses on your investment. In addition, we intend to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion, and debt repayment and have no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
36	Chad Newell, our founder and sole director, and other significant investors will control approximately 40% of our outstanding shares of common stock after this offering, and this concentration of ownership may have an effect on transactions that are otherwise favorable to our stockholders. When this offering is completed, our founder and sole director, Chad Newell, will beneficially own approximately 40% of our outstanding shares of common stock, making him our largest stockholder. As a result, Mr. Newell will have the ability to influence control of the outcome of matters submitted for stockholder approval, including the election of directors. This concentration of ownership may impede a change in control, and could hold up decisions on some transactions when Mr. Newell’s support is necessary, no matter the effect of the transactions on other stockholders.
37	Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the proceeds we receive in this offering and might not apply the proceeds in ways that increase the value of your investment. We expect to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital and capital expenditures. Our management might not be able to yield a significant return, if any, on any investment of these net proceeds. You will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how to use our net proceeds from this offering.

Director	Occupation	Joined
Chad Newell	CEO @ Snapwire	2012
Allen Morgan	Investor @ Self	2018
Ryan Dewane	COO @ Snapwire Media, Inc.	2018
Brian Coryat	Investor @ Self	2018

Officer	Title	Joined
Chad Newell	CEO	2012
Ryan Dewane	COO	2018

Date	Amount	Security
03/2017	$60,000	Convertible Note
12/2016	$176,794	Priced Round
03/2016	$120,000	Convertible Note
04/2017	$183,197	SAFE
09/2017	$50,000	Convertible Note
11/2014	$785,000	Convertible Note
12/2013	$105,000	Convertible Note
02/2018	$782,000	Convertible Note
05/2015	$325,000	Convertible Note
05/2015	$106,000	Convertible Note
10/2013	$215,000	Convertible Note
03/2012	$400,000	Convertible Note

Issued	Amount	Interest	Discount	Valuation Cap	Maturity
03/24/2012	$400,000			$4,000,000
10/26/2013	$215,000			$4,000,000
12/28/2013	$105,000			$4,500,000
11/22/2014	$785,000			$5,000,000
05/23/2015	$106,000			$3,000,000
05/23/2015	$325,000			$6,000,000
03/26/2016	$120,000			$4,500,000
03/31/2017	$60,000	4.0%	15.0%	$8,000,000	10/14/2018
09/14/2017	$50,000	4.0%	15.0%	$6,000,000	03/14/2019
02/28/2018	$782,000	2.0%	25.0%	$8,000,000	08/28/2019

Class of Security	Securities (or Amount) Authorized	Securities (or Amount) Outstanding	Voting Rights
Common Stock	30,000,000	18,863,462	No
Series Seed Preferred Stock	12,400,000	0	No

Why you may want to support us...

Our Team

And Our Major Accomplishments

Why people love us

Some of our investors

we've raised $3,309,546 from 397+ investors since our founding

In the news

Today's Stock Photos Don't Work

Finding the right stock photography is fragmented, expensive and time-consuming.

Outdated Images

Limited Library

SNAPWIRE IS THE WIN-WIN SOLUTION

Photographers shoot exactly what you're looking for at a price you control.

How it works

Customers can browse our marketplace or request specific images. Snapwire gives photographers and clients the freedom to capture the exact photo needed.

Request Specific Photos

Explore the Marketplace

Sell Your Own Photos

We Also Have a Mobile Apps for Photographers and Clients On the Move

Our Mobile App Stats

WE HAVE 300,000 PHOTOGRAPHERS

Our growing library has earned us a partnership with Adobe.

Over 1800 Brands Worldwide Use Snapwire

Some of the world's biggest brands use Snapwire to find the perfect photo.

WE'LL BECOME THE GO-TO-SHOP FOR PHOTO ASSIGNMENTS

We're now focusing on acquiring more big-brand clients, establishing strategic partnerships, and expanding our photo library.

LET'S DEMOCRATIZE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHY

Everyone now has a camera in their pocket. Let's inspire them.

Investor Q&A

Financials

At a Glance

Risks

Details

The Board of Directors

Officers

Voting Power

Past Equity Fundraises

Convertible Notes Outstanding

Outstanding Debts

Related Party Transactions

Use of Funds

Capital Structure

Form C Filing on EDGAR

Google delivers payment on a 2nd 3-digit purchase order

We've been accepted to one of the top 5 start-up accelerators in the U.S.

What's Selling On Snapwire?

Stock Photography 101 - A Basic Understanding of Photo Licensing and Other Rules for Using Stock Photos

Get to know a WeFunder CEO. Co-founder & CEO of Snapwire, Chad Newell, shares his entrepreneurial journey.

Did You Know? Snapwire was named on The 2016 Entrepreneur 360™ List

Snapwire Formally Partners With Google Images

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Notes from investors

In the news

Chad applied to Wefunder

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