1000px photos on a platter for the steal

Post Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 5:24 pm        

Why going exclusive with another agency is a bad idea:

1) You will be just another exclusive among hundreds vying for the same resources from one company. You can't go to another company to complain- you are stuck with a single channel.

2) Competition is good for the industry and YOU! Let's say you don't like the way they are treating a certain rule/idea/etc. You have nowhere to go! At least you can use your vote by concentrating your efforts on another agency until the other one gets back in line. Why give up your voting power? In fact, these other agencies don't even let you talk about other stock agencies on their forums. You give up a lot to go exclusive.

3) Why sell your photos in one place for just a 10% increase at that one agency? Tons of photographers are telling me every day that they make more with ShutterStock than anywhere else! Why not make cash here, AND everywhere else?

4) Staying with ShutterStock means being part of something new and changing. We consider all of your suggestions - and implement them back into the system as quickly as we can. What happened when we weren't processing photos fast enough? We hired a night reviewer who worked on Christmas Eve! What other agency will review your photos on a major holiday?

5) I don't like exclusivity -- and i don�t plan to lock anybody into ShutterStock. I think you guys should sell your photos everywhere and make as much money as possible! Besides - the model we have here is just one model... Your photos may do well here some parts of the year, and better in other places other parts of the year.

6) Other places may try to convince you that going exclusive is a good business idea. It is exactly the opposite! If you aren't convinced of that, go back to (1) and do not proceed until you agree.

7) Our traffic is increasing. Sales are increasing. If you don�t believe me, check out our Alexa Graph. If that doesn�t convince you to stay here � what will?

7) Finally, I would hate to see any of you go!

Would welcome any feedback you guys have.

Jon Oringer, Founder and CEO
ShutterStock, Inc.

Last edited by shutterstock on Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:41 pm; edited 2 times in total  

Hello All,

These licenses are sometimes part of custom or volume licenses that do not include a sensitive use option. We apologize for any confusion.  We�re putting together a more detailed explanation of the different license types which we will communicate on our blog next week.

Best Regards,

Scott
VP of Content
Shutterstock

Rudy said it already and they had it on the news this morning about what an IPO is because of Facebook going public and they said no matter what an IPO is a Sale.

First time offer to sell to the public.
Founders and Early investors are cashing out.
and it is a sale.

Here is what some of the investing companies from Wall Street say about IPO's.


Why does a company go public?

Companies issue stock to the public for many reasons including:

    Needing growth capital for the business
    Founding investors selling a portion of their original ownership

    Paying off debt
    Increasing exposure for the company
    Improving company's ability to recruit upper management through stock options
    Ability to issue further stock to facilitate takeovers using company stock

IPOs generally favor the brokerage firms that underwrite these issues and the companies that go public. A close second are institutional investors that buy the stock at its offering price and then sell it in the afternoon, profiting from the transaction. By pricing the shares below their real value, institutions are able to make a quick buck off unsuspecting individual investors. Unless you are a big institution, it's unlikely that you would be able to buy shares in an IPO even if you wanted to. Only those with the deepest pockets representing the widest interests get access to these opportunities. That's not such a bad thing for individual investors.

Sure, being in on the ground floor might mean a quick 15 to 20 percent return on your investment once it starts trading. However, studies have shown that many IPOs tend to trade below their offering price one year after going public. Investors might be better to focus on buying stocks that were IPOs a year earlier. Coca Cola went public in 1919 at $40 and was trading at $19 a year later. That is quite a difference.

IPOs do from time to time grow up to be extremely large companies and so, like any other investment vehicle, you should do careful research before investing. If it's a stock worth buying and holding for the long term, whether you buy it today or in a year is of little consequence in the end.







Why Go Public?
Going public raises cash, and usually a lot of it. Being publicly traded also opens many financial doors:

    Because of the increased scrutiny, public companies can usually get better rates when they issue debt.
    As long as there is market demand, a public company can always issue more stock. Thus, mergers and acquisitions are easier to do because stock can be issued as part of the deal.
    Trading in the open markets means liquidity. This makes it possible to implement things like employee stock ownership plans, which help to attract top talent.