Author Topic: Yuri Arcurs First Public Statement (Read 165809 times)

EmberMike · « **Reply #525 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:15 »

Quote from: Xanox on August 01, 2013, 15:43

...as confirmed by Yuri it seems SS has no plans to raise our fees or to launch a new expensive product line.
and frankly speaking i would do the same, their core business is being the leader in low cost so they better avoid risky adventures in news, reportage, midstock, etc...

So... have you heard of Offset?

gostwyck · « **Reply #526 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:35 »

Quote from: EmberMike on August 01, 2013, 19:15

Quote from: Xanox on August 01, 2013, 15:43
...as confirmed by Yuri it seems SS has no plans to raise our fees or to launch a new expensive product line.
and frankly speaking i would do the same, their core business is being the leader in low cost so they better avoid risky adventures in news, reportage, midstock, etc...

So... have you heard of Offset?

No ... judging by his misguided posts, it would appear that Xanox hasn't heard anything at all for at least 5 years.

gbalex · « **Reply #527 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:36 »

Quote from: Xanox on August 01, 2013, 15:43

Quote from: ShadySue on August 01, 2013, 12:46
Looks like SS's stocks are bouncing back, so the Yuri effect, as he would like us to believe, was very temporary:

as confirmed by Yuri it seems SS has no plans to raise our fees or to launch a new expensive product line.
and frankly speaking i would do the same, their core business is being the leader in low cost so they better avoid risky adventures in news, reportage, midstock, etc

their strategy will be about cutting costs to the bone even more than now, as for their new collection i'm afraid they've something nasty in store, like all-you-can-eat mobile pics or whatever cheaper than chips.

in any case they can't stay idle, public companies usually announce something new every quarter to keep high the investors's attention span, no matter if it's all smoke and mirrors as in most of the cases, see the recent jump in FB's mobile profits, anyone following the industry knows very well the ugly truth and it will all crumble soon like a sack of potatoes.

at this point they could also find the money for some M&As .. including buying FT or DT, we'll see but it would be a logical step.

You might find this info interesting

http://bits.shutterstock.com/

Snip

Now suppose you are so diligent that you keep rolling out A/B tests, this time testing a fancy search ranking algorithm. Two weeks later you see that there is a $0.10 increase in dollar spent per visitor for the test variant compared to the control (i.e. existing search ranking algorithm) variant. If the increase is real, with 100K visitors each day, that’s $0.10 × 100,000 = $10,000 dollars extra revenue each day. Now, let’s add a twist: you need five extra servers to support that fancy algorithm in production, and the servers cost $10,000 each to buy, and another $10,000 to run per year. You want to make sure it’s worth the investment. Your stats tell you that you currently have a p-value of 0.3, which most people would interpret as a “nonsignificant” result. But a p-value of 0.3 means that with the new ranking algorithm the net gain in extra-money-making probability is 0.7 − 0.3 = 0.4. With the expected size of the gain being $0.10 per visitor, the expected extra revenue per year is $0.10 × 100,000 × 0.4 × 365 = $1.46M dollars. The rational thing to do is of course release it.

gostwyck · « **Reply #528 on:** August 01, 2013, 20:06 »

^^^ Ha! From the same link here's an even more extreme example of how SS are pushing the boundaries of search optimisation ... whilst IS can barely keep their site functioning;

"You know the world has come a long way when someone has to espouse the heresy of not caring about statistical significance.

This is not an argument against A/B testing, but rather about how we use A/B test results to make business decisions. Instead of statistical significance, let’s make decisions based on expected value, i.e. $benefit × probability − $cost.

A little background on statistical significance, or “p < 0.05″. Say you have just deployed an A/B test, comparing the existing red (control) vs. a new green (test) “BUY NOW!” button. Two weeks later you see that the green-button variant is making $0.02 more per visitor than the red-button variant. You run some stats and see that the p-value is less than 0.05, and are ready to declare the results “significant.” ”Significant” here means that there’s an over 95% chance that the color made a difference, or more true to the statistics, there’s less than 5% chance that the $0.02 difference is simply due to random fluctuations.

That last sentence there is probably too long to fit in anyone’s attention span. Let me break it down a little. The problem here is that you need to prove, or disprove, that the difference between the two variants is real — “real” meaning generalizable to the larger audience outside of the test traffic. The philosophy of science (confirmation is indefinite while negation is absolute — a thousand white swans can’t prove that all swans are white, but one black swan can disprove that all swans are white) and practicality both require that people set out to prove that the difference is real by disproving the logical opposite, i.e. there is no real difference. Statistics allows us to figure out that if we assume there is no difference between the red- and green-button variants, the probability of observing a $0.02 or larger difference by random chance is less than 0.05, i.e. p < 0.05. That is pretty unlikely. So we accept the alternative assumption, that the difference is real."

SS and IS are on different planets when it comes to technical innovation, response to customers' needs and the analytical use of data. IS haven't even been able to provide real-time statistics for 5 years! What hope have they, with their part-time, ever-changing GM's, of competing against a full-on, aggressive entrepreneur like Oringer? Er .. that'll be ... not much.

The very idea that IS can compete with SS in the longer term is utterly laughable. Who was it that said "professionals deal with professionals"? Oh yeah __ I just remembered. Boy, is he going to regret that decision within a couple of years from now! It'll be triple-helpings of humble pie for Mr Yuri when he can't feed his '100 employees'. I'm just sitting on my hands waiting for the inevitable to happen.

sharpshot · « **Reply #529 on:** August 02, 2013, 02:43 »

Quote from: Xanox on August 01, 2013, 15:43

Quote from: ShadySue on August 01, 2013, 12:46
Looks like SS's stocks are bouncing back, so the Yuri effect, as he would like us to believe, was very temporary:

as confirmed by Yuri it seems SS has no plans to raise our fees or to launch a new expensive product line....

SS already pay up to $120 for SOD's. Do any non-exclusives get that much from any other microstock site?
Is Yuri the right person to give a balanced view on SS when he's just gone exclusively non-exclusive with Getty/istock? He's the last person I'd be looking to for an unbiased opinion.

Red Dove · « **Reply #530 on:** August 02, 2013, 04:24 »

I wonder how much dosh Yuri has banked since this thread started.

Yuri - next time I moor up in Monte Carlo I'll nip over with a bottle of Russian Standard and we'll get bladdered.

Anyka · « **Reply #531 on:** August 02, 2013, 05:01 »

Quote from: gostwyck on August 01, 2013, 20:06

The very idea that IS can compete with SS in the longer term is utterly laughable. Who was it that said "professionals deal with professionals"? Oh yeah __ I just remembered. Boy, is he going to regret that decision within a couple of years from now! It'll be triple-helpings of humble pie for Mr Yuri when he can't feed his '100 employees'. I'm just sitting on my hands waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Don't forget that Yuri's employees consist of two large groups : the "production" group, needed for shoots, like makeup artists, models etc., and the "distribution" group, needed for submitting the images to 20 or 30 different sites. Now that he's only with Getty/Istock and his own site, he can probably fire more than 50% of that group (and probably even more once Dreamstime is cleaned up). So on one hand he gets a nice bag of money from Getty, and on the other hand he saves a lot of expenses by no longer submitting to a whole bunch of sites.

Mellimage · « **Reply #532 on:** August 02, 2013, 05:21 »

Quote from: Anyka on August 02, 2013, 05:01

Quote from: gostwyck on August 01, 2013, 20:06

The very idea that IS can compete with SS in the longer term is utterly laughable. Who was it that said "professionals deal with professionals"? Oh yeah __ I just remembered. Boy, is he going to regret that decision within a couple of years from now! It'll be triple-helpings of humble pie for Mr Yuri when he can't feed his '100 employees'. I'm just sitting on my hands waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Don't forget that Yuri's employees consist of two large groups : the "production" group, needed for shoots, like makeup artists, models etc., and the "distribution" group, needed for submitting the images to 20 or 30 different sites. Now that he's only with Getty/Istock and his own site, he can probably fire more than 50% of that group (and probably even more once Dreamstime is cleaned up). So on one hand he gets a nice bag of money from Getty, and on the other hand he saves a lot of expenses by no longer submitting to a whole bunch of sites.

and then gets the award for fastest growing danish company...

Ron · « **Reply #533 on:** August 02, 2013, 05:21 »

Quote from: Anyka on August 02, 2013, 05:01

Quote from: gostwyck on August 01, 2013, 20:06

The very idea that IS can compete with SS in the longer term is utterly laughable. Who was it that said "professionals deal with professionals"? Oh yeah __ I just remembered. Boy, is he going to regret that decision within a couple of years from now! It'll be triple-helpings of humble pie for Mr Yuri when he can't feed his '100 employees'. I'm just sitting on my hands waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Don't forget that Yuri's employees consist of two large groups : the "production" group, needed for shoots, like makeup artists, models etc., and the "distribution" group, needed for submitting the images to 20 or 30 different sites. Now that he's only with Getty/Istock and his own site, he can probably fire more than 50% of that group (and probably even more once Dreamstime is cleaned up). So on one hand he gets a nice bag of money from Getty, and on the other hand he saves a lot of expenses by no longer submitting to a whole bunch of sites.

He still needs to keep his staff a little longer, I presume, to find all the thousands of exclusive images spread over 20 odd sites and delete them all.

ShadySue · « **Reply #534 on:** August 02, 2013, 05:36 »

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 05:21

He still needs to keep his staff a little longer, I presume, to find all the thousands of exclusive images spread over 20 odd sites and delete them all.

I doubt he is in any hurry; I'm sure he wants to have his cake and eat it.

Xanox · « **Reply #535 on:** August 02, 2013, 05:49 »

Quote from: Mellimage on August 02, 2013, 05:21

and then gets the award for fastest growing danish company...

maybe in the startups category or SMEs.

for big ones i've the feeling Carlsberg is spreading like wildfire in asia, and what about LEGO becoming massive even in China ?

Xanox · « **Reply #536 on:** August 02, 2013, 05:58 »

i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

sobm · « **Reply #537 on:** August 02, 2013, 06:14 »

Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58

i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

can you show me how different he creates for getty and crap for is or thinkstock? as i can see there is no different yuri create for the expensive or cheap. just people ,people ,people.......

ShadySue · « **Reply #538 on:** August 02, 2013, 06:17 »

Quote from: sobm on August 02, 2013, 06:14

Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58
i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

can you show me how different he creates for getty and crap for is or thinkstock? as i can see there is no different yuri create for the expensive or cheap. just people ,people ,people.......

And more than easy to spot in any agency, which is why he's being caught out so consistently.

gostwyck · « **Reply #539 on:** August 02, 2013, 06:32 »

Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58

i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

No. He 'hit the wall' as an independent, as we all do, he was just a bit later than most of us because he kept upping his production rate. Unfortunately you can't keep doing that forever. You can't just keep 'employing another 100 guys' and expect it to pay off. It's painfully ironic that Yuri's 'solution' to the issue was to tie himself into a dwindling agency. Big, big mistake.

A 'Main Collection' image at IS, at medium size, is now 3 credits. An exclusive image (not Main Collection) at medium size is now 30 credits. Is a 10x differential, between main and exclusive, sustainable? Nope. Quite frankly you might as well start another agency for exclusive content. You just don't get the same customers, with such different budgets, all happily shopping in the same place. It doesn't work like that.

Ron · « **Reply #540 on:** August 02, 2013, 06:42 »

Quote from: gostwyck on August 02, 2013, 06:32

Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58
i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

No. He 'hit the wall' as an independent, as we all do, he was just a bit later than most of us because he kept upping his production rate. Unfortunately you can't keep doing that forever. You can't just keep 'employing another 100 guys' and expect it to pay off. It's painfully ironic that Yuri's 'solution' to the issue was to tie himself into a dwindling agency. Big, big mistake.

A 'Main Collection' image at IS, at medium size, is now 3 credits. An exclusive image (not Main Collection) at medium size is now 30 credits. Is a 10x differential, between main and exclusive, sustainable? Nope. Quite frankly you might as well start another agency for exclusive content. You just don't get the same customers, with such different budgets, all happily shopping in the same place. It doesn't work like that.

Honest question. Why do you think Yuri jumped ship and why did he choose IS? Yuri has built up a very successful business, and we cant say he is not business savvy or doesnt know the market. Why would he make this decision at this moment?

ShadySue · « **Reply #541 on:** August 02, 2013, 07:00 »

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 06:42

Honest question. Why do you think Yuri jumped ship and why did he choose IS? Yuri has built up a very successful business, and we cant say he is not business savvy or doesnt know the market. Why would he make this decision at this moment?

Pay attention up at the back. "Professionals deal with Professionals"

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #542 on:** August 02, 2013, 08:59 »

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 06:42

Quote from: gostwyck on August 02, 2013, 06:32
Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58
i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

No. He 'hit the wall' as an independent, as we all do, he was just a bit later than most of us because he kept upping his production rate. Unfortunately you can't keep doing that forever. You can't just keep 'employing another 100 guys' and expect it to pay off. It's painfully ironic that Yuri's 'solution' to the issue was to tie himself into a dwindling agency. Big, big mistake.

A 'Main Collection' image at IS, at medium size, is now 3 credits. An exclusive image (not Main Collection) at medium size is now 30 credits. Is a 10x differential, between main and exclusive, sustainable? Nope. Quite frankly you might as well start another agency for exclusive content. You just don't get the same customers, with such different budgets, all happily shopping in the same place. It doesn't work like that.
Honest question. Why do you think Yuri jumped ship and why did he choose IS? Yuri has built up a very successful business, and we cant say he is not business savvy or doesnt know the market. Why would he make this decision at this moment?

Well, if you could get access to Getty and the exclusive commission rates and prices for what appears to be an agreement to pull your portfolio from just one agency - SS - wouldn't you reckon it might be the best earning option available to you?

Ron · « **Reply #543 on:** August 02, 2013, 09:02 »

gbalex · « **Reply #544 on:** August 02, 2013, 09:43 »

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 06:42

Quote from: gostwyck on August 02, 2013, 06:32
Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58
i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

No. He 'hit the wall' as an independent, as we all do, he was just a bit later than most of us because he kept upping his production rate. Unfortunately you can't keep doing that forever. You can't just keep 'employing another 100 guys' and expect it to pay off. It's painfully ironic that Yuri's 'solution' to the issue was to tie himself into a dwindling agency. Big, big mistake.

A 'Main Collection' image at IS, at medium size, is now 3 credits. An exclusive image (not Main Collection) at medium size is now 30 credits. Is a 10x differential, between main and exclusive, sustainable? Nope. Quite frankly you might as well start another agency for exclusive content. You just don't get the same customers, with such different budgets, all happily shopping in the same place. It doesn't work like that.
Honest question. Why do you think Yuri jumped ship and why did he choose IS? Yuri has built up a very successful business, and we cant say he is not business savvy or doesnt know the market. Why would he make this decision at this moment?

That is a good question, I would say that Getty solved some problems for him and helped him move forward with some business goals. He mentioned in another thread the challenges he was having in regard to peopleimages, it could very well be that Yuri solved those challenges with this deal.

Could also be that a light came on when he realized what A/B testing and the new SS board would do to his income.

I don't think we will see Yuri sitting back sipping port. He enjoys building things and is very successful doing so.

We do not have all the information, Yuri has been meeting with owners for years and he may be making decisions based on facts that we have no knowledge of. I would be surprised to find that he is truly biased toward Getty, if so that would be unfortunate because you miss important facts when you are biased. It would be a shame to find that someone who has come so far; has become so biased as to put that bias first, while twisting every fact to suit that bias.

If so maybe he should meet with gostwyck and they can pound it out of each other.

Ron · « **Reply #545 on:** August 02, 2013, 09:47 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on August 02, 2013, 08:59

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 06:42
Quote from: gostwyck on August 02, 2013, 06:32
Quote from: Xanox on August 02, 2013, 05:58
i don't think he's gonna fire anyone, his goal could be to create a 1 million images portfolio so he might hire another 100 guys if needed.

you all think his belly is full but i've the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, the deal with getty allows him to produce expensive shots for getty and leaving the cr-ap for istock and thinkstock, win-win scenario.

No. He 'hit the wall' as an independent, as we all do, he was just a bit later than most of us because he kept upping his production rate. Unfortunately you can't keep doing that forever. You can't just keep 'employing another 100 guys' and expect it to pay off. It's painfully ironic that Yuri's 'solution' to the issue was to tie himself into a dwindling agency. Big, big mistake.

A 'Main Collection' image at IS, at medium size, is now 3 credits. An exclusive image (not Main Collection) at medium size is now 30 credits. Is a 10x differential, between main and exclusive, sustainable? Nope. Quite frankly you might as well start another agency for exclusive content. You just don't get the same customers, with such different budgets, all happily shopping in the same place. It doesn't work like that.
Honest question. Why do you think Yuri jumped ship and why did he choose IS? Yuri has built up a very successful business, and we cant say he is not business savvy or doesnt know the market. Why would he make this decision at this moment?

Well, if you could get access to Getty and the exclusive commission rates and prices for what appears to be an agreement to pull your portfolio from just one agency - SS - wouldn't you reckon it might be the best earning option available to you?

Lets assume he is going to remove everything and he is going to be exclusive.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #546 on:** August 02, 2013, 11:28 »

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 09:47

Lets assume he is going to remove everything and he is going to be exclusive.
[/quote]
In which case he's simply betting that iStock, Getty and his own "partner site" will be more profitable for him than continuing with his previous policy of supplying everyone. It's just a business decision.

wordplanet · « **Reply #547 on:** August 02, 2013, 13:56 »

In the few months that I've owned SSTK stock, I'm up over 27%, netting more than I've made from SS since I started with them. I guess if Yuri were an investor he'd be paying closer attention to how the stock is actually performing. But even if SSTK went down 12% tomorrow, I'd still be ahead of the game. And if iS beats out SS, all my eggs aren't in one basket. In fact, stock is just one small portion of my photo income. Yuri's on another planet as far as the size of his portfolio, the kind of work he produces, and his ability to negotiate a deal, so what he does, while it's interesting in a general “what's happening in the stock photo world?” kind of way, it doesn't affect my choices.

I didn't really learn much about shooting stock until I joined SS and saw downloads nearly every day, even early on with a very tiny portfolio. It showed me what kind of stuff worked for me and confirmed that when I shoot what I enjoy it actually sells. I don't love all the changes there but the site runs well, they pay me on time without my having to ask them to, they report earnings nearly instantaneously, they answer emails and even the telephone, and they can even do math! On a gut level, I hate the subscription model, but SS knows how to make it work.

Yuri’s welcome to hype his work and look out for himself. I don't really get the anger here. He's styled himself as the world's leading stock photographer for years now, so why should the size of his ego surprise or infuriate anyone? Bad grammar and poor spelling are the bane of the internet, though you'd think someone on his staff could read and write English.

If he's looking to take over Getty or iS from the inside I wish him all the luck in the world, but I doubt that's the ace up his sleeve. I'm afraid he's just scrambling like the rest of us, wondering when the hordes with their iPhones are going to muscle in on our business, and trying to keep the cash cow running for a few more years. Printing fine art or shooting a print campaign is one thing, but iPhone photos can look great on the web - in fact, I've seen them blown up as huge printed panoramas with surprising quality.

I'll stick with my DSLRs for the most part, but I do love having a camera with me all the time that doesn't weigh a ton. For something that's a phone, a mini-computer (with more power than my first HP), a game console, magazine rack, mini-kindle, and camera rolled into one, it takes pretty good pictures. But then, if you’ll pardon my ego, I'm the one pushing the button.

jjneff · « **Reply #548 on:** August 02, 2013, 14:20 »

You can slap me now or later but I am feeling bullish on iStock! I think SS is in more of a bind long term with shareholders then iStock is at the moment.

ShadySue · « **Reply #549 on:** August 02, 2013, 16:03 »

Quote from: jjneff on August 02, 2013, 14:20

You can slap me now or later but I am feeling bullish on iStock! I think SS is in more of a bind long term with shareholders then iStock is at the moment.

You can only say as you find.

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Author Topic: Yuri Arcurs First Public Statement (Read 165809 times)

EmberMike

gostwyck

gbalex

gostwyck

sharpshot

Red Dove

Anyka

Mellimage

Ron

ShadySue

Xanox

Xanox

sobm

ShadySue

gostwyck

Ron

ShadySue

BaldricksTrousers

Ron

gbalex

Ron

BaldricksTrousers

wordplanet

jjneff

ShadySue

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