Michael Ventura Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Does this bother others as much as it bothers me?! This guy has, in part, ruduced the global value of stock photography while he becomes a billionaire at our expense. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-28/shutterstock-creates-first-silicon-alley-billionaire.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneWay Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Sadly, Michael, this is just another example of the global effect of new technology. As an analogy, full-time photographers are like commercial anglers fishing with poles, lines and hooks to target high-quality, specific species, while Shutterstock is like a seiner who uses a big net to scoop up everything in the sea. The consumer makes the ultimate choice...and when almost everything looks pretty good on an iPhone screen, the consumer doesn't care when it's "free," and is no longer willing to pay for images placed in paper publications. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 Dave, I certainly understand how this is happening, it just sucks that this guy is getting so rich while so few of the contributors make much of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneWay Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 I can't begrudge the man for thinking of a way to make the 1000s of images he was taking himself each session pay off. My main gripe is why I didn't think of it myself (well I know why...laziness and lack of motivation ). Heck, I got into stock photography after meeting you (thanks)...and have actually made some money. I have also seen the industry change so quickly in just a couple of years that I am already cutting back on my photography as my ROI (of time, mainly) has dropped precipitously. Now, I'd like to read about Michael Ventura's big venture some time! Go for it! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensplace Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 If he owns about half, and has made 1 billion, that means the other half is worth about 1 billion also. So a total of around 2 billion. That fact, when read with this saddens me Unlike Getty and Corbis, Shutterstock doesn’t own its content. The site’s contributors -- photographers, illustrators and artists who so far have been paid more than $150 million, according to the company -- retain ownership of their copyrights. The contributors are not getting anywhere near a fair share in my opinion, one of the reasons I dont contribute to sites like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Yes, it bother's me. But the fact is that anyone who becomes a billionaire does so at other people's expense. This is especially true in the kind of economic system that we have, where middlemen get rich on the backs of producers. Come to think of it, didn't Marx -- Karl, not Groucho -- have something to say about this state of affairs back in the 19th century? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 True, well it also took a lot of willing people To "give away" their work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kilpatrick Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 What he's worth has little to do with the imbalance between the contributors' share and the profits - it is only connected with the value of equity in the company, and that is often unrelated to real performance, and can be linked to expectations or to two or more competing investors (in some cases, to thousands of private investors pushing the offer price up). It only becomes real money when the owner/director sells up, and the shares go to someone else or some fund. Like Facebook, they could drop like a stone so he got $1bn and then those who paid out find they've only got $0.5bn. I have one investment currently worth about 1/10th of its quite reasonable price when bought. Kick myself that I didn't sell off when it was worth double the purchase... the skill which entrepreneurs need to have, selling out at the peak value. However, it would be very good and honest for such a corporation to issue either shares every year to contributing photographers in proportion to their earnings, or to pay a dividend to the photographers the same way they do to investors. Either would increase my loyalty and input, and if the owner happened to do well, so would the photographers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 True, well it also took a lot of willing people To "give away" their work. Yes, it takes two to tango, as the old saying goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneWay Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 What he's worth has little to do with the imbalance between the contributors' share and the profits - it is only connected with the value of equity in the company, and that is often unrelated to real performance, and can be linked to expectations or to two or more competing investors (in some cases, to thousands of private investors pushing the offer price up). It only becomes real money when the owner/director sells up, and the shares go to someone else or some fund. Like Facebook, they could drop like a stone so he got $1bn and then those who paid out find they've only got $0.5bn. However, it would be very good and honest for such a corporation to issue either shares every year to contributing photographers in proportion to their earnings, or to pay a dividend to the photographers the same way they do to investors. Either would increase my loyalty and input, and if the owner happened to do well, so would the photographers. Well said as usual, David. And what a novel suggestion to issue shares to the contributors...is Alamy listening? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Well said as usual, David. And what a novel suggestion to issue shares to the contributors...is Alamy listening? Dave :lol: A few song titles come to mind: That'll Be the Day When I'm Dead and Gone Money, Money, Money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semmick Photo Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Guys, I would love to give way my work for hundreds of dollars per sale, but it seems Shutterstock makes me 3 times more then Alamy. In the same period, I made 400 dollar on Alamy (400) and 2500 dollar on Shutterstock (800). It seems the return per image is 1 dollar on Alamy and 3 dollars on Shutterstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMiller Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I wouldn't begrudge this guy's success one bit! He started as a stock photographer just like every one of us. Check out his story: http://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/bootstrappers-bible-shutterstock-founder-success-story.html He just had some good business savvy, and after several failures, finally landed on a winner, and with all his own money at risk. As David pointed out, his sudden wealth is in the value of his company (ie stock value). He just had a lot of gumption, a lot of drive and took a lot of risk to make it work. I think it's folly (though understandable) to assume his success is to our detriment. Rather imho, resentment itself is detrimental; better to keep busy and make things work. Now, if I had only bought the Shutterstock (SSTK) IPO instead of camera equipment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajotte Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Guys, I would love to give way my work for hundreds of dollars per sale, but it seems Shutterstock makes me 3 times more then Alamy. In the same period, I made 400 dollar on Alamy (400) and 2500 dollar on Shutterstock (800). It seems the return per image is 1 dollar on Alamy and 3 dollars on Shutterstock. I have different experience - Alamy makes me a bit more than Shutter in the same period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensplace Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 What he's worth has little to do with the imbalance between the contributors' share and the profits - it is only connected with the value of equity in the company, and that is often unrelated to real performance, and can be linked to expectations or to two or more competing investors (in some cases, to thousands of private investors pushing the offer price up). It only becomes real money when the owner/director sells up, and the shares go to someone else or some fund. Like Facebook, they could drop like a stone so he got $1bn and then those who paid out find they've only got $0.5bn. However, it would be very good and honest for such a corporation to issue either shares every year to contributing photographers in proportion to their earnings, or to pay a dividend to the photographers the same way they do to investors. Either would increase my loyalty and input, and if the owner happened to do well, so would the photographers. Well said as usual, David. And what a novel suggestion to issue shares to the contributors...is Alamy listening? Dave There is a new stock agency that started recently that does just that if I recall, had a few beers, so cant recall exact details but you can see more here http://www.stocksy.com/service/about Not tried it, so dont know if any good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.