How
the one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing startups killed it by taking risks,
engaging the experts and being able to think big
WRITTEN BY ALLISON WAY, SENIOR COPYWRITER & CHIEF EDITOR
In
Kansas City, where the aroma of the Rivermarket’s fresh produce and bustling
energy of downtown seem to collide, there lies a modest building on the
intersection of 7th and
Walnut. From the outside, it doesn’t seem like much. Standard red
brick, numerous hazy windows, and a Thai restaurant sign are the only
embellishments on the building’s exterior. But the inside of the building
is a different story. It houses one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing
startup companies—LiveOn.
LiveOn
is a Kansas City startup born from the entrepreneurial mind of Jonathan
Whistman that has an ambitious vision for capturing, celebrating and sharing
life across multiple generations. In order to do so, LiveOn has created a
web application that helps users share their most important moments, while
keeping those memories alive and safe for future generations. In other
words, it’s an online time capsule...with a little “oomph.”
If
you’ve ever watched your child take his or her first steps and wished you could
capture the moment with your camera and show it to them when they’re older, LiveOn
can do that. If you’ve ever wanted to share video from your college
graduation with your great-great grandchild, LiveOn can do that. If
you’ve ever wanted to pass down memories with your future children, future
grandchildren and future generations, LiveOn can do that. LiveOn
captures, displays and archives all of the most treasured moments in a life and
allows them to be shared for generations to come.
A
funny thing happened at a funeral
LiveOn
was born from a simple thought during a funeral. Ironic? Maybe
not. A few years ago, entrepreneur Jonathan Whistman, founder of the
LiveOn, was attending a funeral for a family friend’s young son. Although
it was a time of sorrow and remembrance, it was also a time of awakening for Jon.
While attending the ceremony, he realized that the funeral had virtually
nothing to do with the kid’s life. Jon thought to himself, “There has to
be a better way to tell a person about your life. Why can’t we continue
to share and enjoy things so that they can live
on?”
What
if you could rewind your life and watch it back?
Jon
continued to ask himself this question as he began to develop the percolating
ideas of LiveOn.com. He knew that he
wanted to create a place where memories could connect users with the families
and last virtually forever. But what else could LiveOn do?
Jonathan
began raising funds and hiring developers with help from Tony
Karrer, former CTO of eHarmony,
who was a
huge help in LiveOn’s technological architecture and selecting the first Kansas
City based developers. The first line of code was written on March 20, 2011 and
the company executed a soft launch a few months later on November 1, 2011.
LiveOn
experiences growth, change and money
With
additional funding, LiveOn is growing very quickly. Now numbering twelve
employees, the company is looking to double its number of employees (more
specifically, looking for a systems administrator, mobile developers and front
end developers) and is finding new ways to expand its services.
In
addition, LiveOn has begun to further develop
LiveOn Rewind. When the vision is complete, Rewind will be located in a
“clean room” on the second floor of the LiveOn office building. LiveOn
Rewind takes old photos and videos that users send in and digitizes them.
Users can ship videos and photos, watch the LiveOn tech experts scan and
digitize them via website, and record their voices over each picture in order
to capture the moment accurately.
LiveOn:
Inspired by Apple
When
asked what company Jon admires most, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“The
answer is obvious,” he said. “Just look at our offices.”
And
it’s true. In every cubicle sat one hard-working LiveOn employee coding
and punching away on a giant Apple screen. LiveOn’s
simplicity, creativity and consumer-awareness truly does have an Apple-esque
essence. But what other companies does the startup inspire to emulate?
“It’s
the people in certain companies that inspire me most,” says Jon. “I love
looking especially at the 3-4 person companies. They believe in what
they’re doing the most out of anyone.”
From
the words of Jonathan Whistman himself
Starting
up a successful company like LiveOn is not easy. Just ask Jonathan
Whistman about the business venture. The funding didn’t just fall into
his lap, the employee applications didn’t come pouring in and the business
didn’t create itself in a day. It takes a lot of effort to make a startup
work—especially when it comes to believing in the idea.
“The
hardest part of starting up LiveOn has been dealing with the mental challenges,”
says Jon. “I am in a new field, I need tech-capable people, there's no
guarantee. In the beginning I constantly asked myself, ‘Will I be able to
do this?’ Finally, I just took a chance and did it.”
But
many potential entrepreneurs tend to ask the same question to guys like Jon
over and over: why did you choose entrepreneurship and how do you know when to
start the business? Jon’s answer is quite straight-forward:
“Why?
I don’t like working for other people! People often view entrepreneurship
as a danger because there’s no job security. I believe that the secure
corporate job is just an illusion of security. I have learned that in
entrepreneurship, I get to know exactly how many days I am away from being
broke. And then I get to actually do something about it. In the
corporate world, I never knew how many days away from broke the company was and
therefore, I had no control.”
“Listen
to the experts, but in the end, trust your gut”
If
Jonathan Whistman has learned one thing from starting up LiveOn.com, it would be to go with his
instinct.
“Always
listen to the experts,” he says. “But in the end, trust your gut.
And remember: there is a difference between advice and counsel. Advice is
something you can get from people who haven’t been through
entrepreneurship. Counsel comes from people who have lived through
it. Always seek counsel.”
How
does LiveOn Think Big?
When
asked how he Thinks Big, Jon replied with the following
statement: “I believe anything is possible if people are willing to challenge
conventional thinking. I think people really do create their own
destinies.”
Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig
