Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam E Ulu.
Hi Sam, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
About six years ago I noticed many of my friends were celebrating engagements, baby gender reveals, their kids’ birthdays, etc., and they were always looking for someone with a “nice” camera to be the designated photographer during their parties, but they weren’t interested in paying the $250+ per hour that most established photographers were charging.
At the time I had been thinking of what I wanted to work on next; I wanted to build something that was relatable and could impact any individual. Everyone celebrates something with friends and family every year. Wouldn’t it be great if they could put their phones down and enjoy the moment? The desire to provide this service drove me to build Candidly.
To investigate further I spent time talking to photographers about their processes and why they charged the amount they did. I learned that when a photographer sets their rate, they take into account the many hours they spend editing photos. Leveraging my background in aerospace engineering, I started to look into whether there was computational photography technology that could be used to enhance photos automatically in order to get photos back to customers faster at a price that made sense for non-wedding celebrations. This would become Candidly as we know it today. We service any event except weddings for $60 per hour and deliver the photos back to you within 24 hours.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. First, we couldn’t get investors; no one believed people would hire a photographer for a gender reveal party or kids’ birthday when they could use the camera on their phone. Then it took two years for the editing technology to be good enough such that we didn’t have a human reviewing every single event photo that was delivered. We had moments when we ran out of money and had to let people go…we finally figured out how to scale the business at the end of 2019, then in early 2020, covid hit, and we lost 97% of revenue in less than 48 hours. Through this all, we persevered; we always knew that we wanted to live in a world where we get to be candid, to be in the moment with the people we cared about during these celebrations trusting that there was someone or something that documented it all.
As you know, we’re big fans of Candidly. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am the Founder and CEO of Candidly. We connect customers who have upcoming events/celebrations (except weddings) to local photographers for $60 per hour and deliver the photos back within 24 hours. We are sometimes known as the anti-selfie company. What sets us apart is that we only service events where someone is celebrating something (again, except weddings); you couldn’t get a headshot on candidly or real estate photos on candidly. As for the readers, if you have a party coming up and want to try us out, use the promo code FAM20 to get $20 off your first event.
What were you like growing up?
I guess I had what you’d call a normal childhood, I grew up in a small town in the southeast of Nigeria, got a scholarship to come to the states and study Aerospace engineering, and I am pretty laid back. I am an avid football (soccer) fan who supports Liverpool.
Pricing:
- $60 per hour
Contact Info:
- Website: http://candidly.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candidlyhq/
Image Credits
Candidly
