Steven Galanis, CEO, Cameo

When I was a CEO co-host for an episode of The Celebrity Apprentice and talked with the celebrities off-camera during shoots that week, I was amazed by how much they all crave the spotlight, no matter how much coverage they already had. This was evident when actors, athletes, media moguls and business leaders flocked to Twitter and the Instagram. Like children exploring an iPad for the first time, they were given a platform where they could control everything from frequency to message, and with the ability to keep things positive, they learned how to control the narrative. But even with a talent pool that always seemed to want more exposure, there was always something missing with the text/video-based outlets–personalization and monetization!

What celebrities needed was not just an audience that they could engage with, but a platform that would enable their fans to direct and produce a personalized message just for them. More importantly stars needed a marketplace, with a business model that could match talent-supply with fan-demand … oh, and get paid. Alas, at our 1871 incubator in Chicago, where in full disclosure I am a founding board member, Cameo was born.

I had a fun talk with Steven Galanis, CEO of Cameo as we discuss why selfies are the new paid for autograph. Named one of the “50 Genius Companies on Earth” by Time Magazine, Cameo is the world’s leading marketplace for personalized video shout-outs from more than 30,000 celebrities on everything from personal birthday greetings to breakup songs from your favorite star. Impressively, the platform is also being used for COVID-19 fundraising and it is making a big impact around the globe.