What does Mini Screen Pictures do?
Mini Screen specialises in making entertainment programmes for mobiles and tablets. More specifically, helping broadcasters to maximise the value they can get from their content through social media channels in order to create real value for their franchises and their campaigns.
The problem currently is that, when broadcasters and brands arecreatingthisbonuscontentfordrawingpeopleintothesubject
matter, there is a lot of fragmentation in the market. There are lots of 2ndscreenappsbuttheyhaveashortshelflife;noonewants
to keep lots of apps on their phone, and also when people are on their phone and watching TV at the same time, they’re probably
notreallyinterestedinwhat’sonTV,orthey’reengagingwiththeir
mobileduringanadbreak.Sothere’samisconceptionaboutwhat
2ndscreenisforandthat’ssomethingwewanttochallenge.
Brands know that content cuts across more than any other kind of advertising, and with a billion users on YouTube every month, brands feel like they have to be on there. But the truth is, discoverability is bad for everyone – even the biggest brands. The music-streaming service Deezer has three million users worldwide, half of whom are subscribers. They have approximately 100,000 YouTube subscribers, and their content gets sporadic views – about 10,000 views a month.
So discoverability and fragmentation are issues that everyone has and that we want to address by creating this platform.
Wearefillingthegapforabespokeplatformthatcanofferhigh-end
content that also feels entertaining to them but is to YouTube what LinkedInistoFacebook;it’samoretailoredprofessionalapproach,
high-end TV spec content that really utilises the mobile platform. The mobile platform is underused – the cross-platform mantra is watch what you want however you want whenever you want, but the mobile
platform is considered an afterthought and most of the content you watch on there is either suited to another device or another medium.
Soit’snarrativelyandtechnologicallyunsuited.
What made you decide to create a tech start-up?
I started Mini Screen Pictures because I hated commuting and I knew that, back in 2012, everyone had a TV in their pocket (BBC iPlayerhadjuststartedenablingdownloadsatthattime),butthat
there was really no content out there that was bespoke for and exclusive to that person who was on the go. That was my starting point. In many ways nothing has really changed with 2nd screen since then, although there have been lots of efforts.
Ithinkthere’sawholeworldofpeoplewhowouldlovetoengage
with content on the move. We have other interesting ways of
monetising the content as well. Ad blocking is a problem, too. Those pop-upadsareirritating.Idon’twanttoseeapictureofapairof
shoesI’vealreadybought.
So the difference with your platform is that the brand is integrated within it?
That’s right. We redefine engagement. The way measurable
engagement currently works is that you send an ad out, you can see that people have watched that ad, but we say if someone downloads the app, watches the show, then can click on links and actually buy relevant stuff, i.e. fashion or booking hols from a travel show, that is 100 per cent engagement and can literally affect the ROI for brands investing in this content.
What does the platform look like?
When you go into the Mini Screen app you see the most recent
content and it’s very mobile-centric, i.e. large images full of
interestingTVshows.It’sbasicallywhatyouwouldseeonTVexcept
everythinghasgotthenameofabrand.We’renotshovingbrands
downpeople’sthroatsbecausetheyaregoingtotheappbecause
they are interested in the content, and if they are interested in the contentthatmeanstheydon’tmindthatit’sbranded.Itmightbe
short-form or long-form with TV spec. It’s either a live broadcast
through our platform or available on demand. Imagine you have something like Later with Jools Holland sponsored by Deezer. You thengotothatshow;itsaysitstartsatthistime,whichiswhen
you’recommutinghome.Thenyougetintroducedtoloadsofnew
music, which is what you already like. You can share the content and also moments from it, i.e. capturing screenshots and sharing it reallyeasilywithouthavingtoleavetheplatform(thiscan’tcurrently
be done).
Also hotspots that you could click on and go and buy tickets for thatband’snextconcertordownloadasingleordownloadDeezer’s
app. All while remaining in the Mini Screen app world.
Idon’tbelievethatanyonelovesbuttheydolikeandappreciate
certain brands’ values, and admire certain brands. Also they are
linked to TV shows that you do actually love and have an emotional connectionwith.It’sapositiveassociationforbothparties.
As the app grows and we get more content we can syphon off different things for different genres like sport, music, etc.
Is the interface like anything existing?
Yes, we were inspired by Soundcloud, which is very pictorial before youevenstartviewingcontent,i.e.theiconsareverybig.There’s
a list-style approach. We want to make it as easy as possible to
engage with. A lot of the on-demand platforms like Inlayer, Amazon Prime,Netflix,etc.arestrugglingtomakesurealltheircontentis
viewable because they have so much content they have to put out thereandsotheiriconsaresosmall.Youdon’tfeelbombardedby
the content.
How did you put the company together?
IwasworkinginfilmandTVdevelopmentbackin2012andwasn’t
getting enough freelance work. I came across a project that was
making a continuing drama, i.e. something like EastEnders for smartphones and tablets. It was all very amateurishly done and didn’thaveabusinessmodelbutitwasaEurekamomentforme.
I had a conversation with someone from Kudos when I was in an interviewtogetontheirbooksasascriptreaderandhesaid,‘I’m
sure someone will make a lot of money from this platform in the future’ and I’m thinking, ‘That could be me.’ So I then worked on
getting out of London and living the entrepreneurial dream of moving back in with my dad and trying to set up the company. The company was incorporated back in 2012 and I was looking for a shape at that time to make 2nd screen content narratively and technologically better. I read up on how to run a company, I got some info from the Prince’sTrust,butatechmediacompanywasn’tagoodfitforthem.
I wanted to use my knowledge in development to get some scripts in but I came to the conclusion that the only way to do this was to do it properly, which would be expensive, so I then had to raise the money and I started networking and getting advice.
How did you find the people that you talked to initially?
It was very serendipitous – I found people on LinkedIn who were doing this, i.e. media consultants people doing mobile video hosting. A friend of mine, Christian Harris, who’s now head of
Deezer in the UK, was doing something with his own company called Gorillaboxvideohosting.Ididn’tknowthefirstthingaboutbuilding
the platform but I knew I needed to learn so I found him, and he was very supportive. I remember going to a Creative England event and meeting a lady called Claire Barry who ran the Oxford TV and Media Finance Network, and she told me to come to that, which is when Imetmorepeoplefromafinancebackground.Alotofthemdidn’t
get it. At that point things were so broad that the pitch was hard.
People were saying, ‘Where’s the content?’ I realised we needed
some example content to reduce the perceived risk of the business.
I started trying to get start-up micro loans to make stuff that proved the concept so I could then go and raise more money on a seed round for 2014.
What happened next?
2014wastheworstyearforme.Iwastryingtoraise£150,000.I’d
got a start-up loan from the Start-up Loans Company to make proof- of-concept material, and they had a delivery partner called Translink Start-ups. Obviously a completely new tech idea where there were no comparable businesses is a hard pitch. I tried to get a wireframe oftheappdone,someteasercontent,anditdidthejobroughly,
butitdidn’tstrengthenthecaseasmuchasitshouldhave.Butyou
havetolearnasyougoalong.I’mnotsureifthistimespentwasa
good or a bad thing – I did learn from it.
So we then tried to move on to SEIS. This is when you discover how difficult it can be to get in front of investors who are really willing to invest in media.
AtthatpointitwasstilljustmeandabusinessplanbecauseI
thoughtIwouldn’tbeabletogetanyonedecentintothecompany
unlessIcouldpaythem.Ididn’thaveanyoneatthatpointwhowas
willing to work on it either full- or part-time for sweat equity (working for shares only). So 2014 was a rough year. I started working with an independent financial advisor to try and get access to high-net- worth individuals, and we came so close a few times. I almost had
£75,000 from one investor but he took 2.5 months to deliberate after our meeting and finally put his money into a gourmet burger start-up because he could understand the risk versus rewards of that basic market and couldn’t understand the ‘daily challenges’
that I would come up against with Mini Screen.
So by 2015 we changed tack. I had a good rapport with my IFA who had worked hard to get some money in for me and we decided togetsomethingthroughacceleratorprogrammes.Thatdidn’twork.
So mid-2015 I decided to make a last-ditch attempt because this hadbeengoingonfortoolongandIwasn’tmakinganymoneyfrom
it – to get a CTO on board for sweat equity. So I spent a couple of monthssearchingforasoftwaredevelopertobuildtheappasthat’s
whatIneededfirst.Ican’tmakecontentunlessIhaveabusiness;I
don’thaveabusinessunlessIhaveanapp.Iwasveryluckytofinally
gotoamonthlymeet-upcalledTechWednesdayinBirminghamand
came across Dave Evans who had been involved in developing the earliest versions of video-playing tech and was also a successful entrepreneur.Heeventuallysaid,‘OK,let’sdoit.’Aftersolongof
trying to get to MVP (minimum viable product), which is the earliest stage at which you can get into market, that first barrier was finally lowered and we started to make progress quite quickly. We also
discovered and solved lots of problems along the way.
Thestagewe’reatnowismarketfit,gettingourfirstclientson
board and building that brand identity. So we built the app, started testing it, then I started looking to get the third co-founder on board, to manage the production side. I was managing the client relationships on a day-to-day basis and Dave was looking after the tech side. I needed someone to manage the production process for the content. I got back in touch with Claire Barry and she put me intouchwithProducers’ForumandMediaParents.ThenIputan
ad out there and the applications started coming in and everyone was very experienced across broadcast, so much more than I expected. Everyone was at the exec producer level. I had about 40 applications. I talked to everyone, mostly to find out from them what was attractive about Mini Screen. There were then about ten people that I interviewed.
After all that time formulating an idea, living with my dad, not having any money, starting to be more and more uncomfortable with being in my overdraft all the time, to suddenly be in a situation where you’vegotanappthat’sdeveloping,you’restartingtogetinfront
of the right clients and you’re getting validation from people who
have worked in the broadcasting world for decades and have a lot of experience, advice and value to add was amazing. So I ended up landing on Zoe who was able to situate the company in Birmingham becauseIneededtheflexibility,soIwentforsomeonewhodidn’t
necessarilyhavethemostexperiencebuthadthemostflexibility.So
Zoe came on board and I had my co-founding team. I then started reapproachingpeoplelikeAscensionVentures,whoI’dmetupwith
ayearearlierandwhohadsaid,‘Welikeitbutyou’retooearlystage
–comebackwhenyou’vegotateamandaproduct.’I’mnowjust
waitingtohearbackfromthem.I’mmeetingloadsofagenciesand
clients now who want to do more with their social media content.
We’llsoonbeapproachingbroadcasterstousetheplatformfortheir
digital content.
What were the terms with Dave?
InitiallyIwantedtogetsomeoneonboardafterI’dhadinvestment
and could pay them, and I was prepared to give them equity. But in the end we had a letter of agreement that said ‘I will give you anequitystakeinthecompany’sotherewouldbealowwageand
a decent amount of equity and co-founder status. We had a very
loosegentlemen’sagreementandgotworkunderway.Hewoulddo
what needed to be done in his own time. Obviously if someone’s
going to work on something for nothing they’ve got to really love
whatyou’redoing,butit’salsomorevaluabletoinvestorsbecause
theywantpeoplethathaveshowncommitment.Dave’snowbeen
workingfornothingforthepastsixmonthsandZoe’sbeenonboard
for the past few months. Zoe still has freelance work and we fit around that; if Dave has something that comes up then I’ll have
to fit around that. I can’t have first call on their time. The way I
want to run the company is getting autonomy and delegation right, and that is about people having skills that complement each other butdon’toverlap,becausewhenskillsetsoverlapyougetinternal
competitionbecausethey’redoingthesamejobandthere’snoreal
differentiatorinhowtheywork.Wekeepcommunicationlinesopen.
Davecomingonboardwasawatershedmoment.Wedon’thavea
shareholders’agreementformulatedyetbecauseitcostsmoneyto
dothat,whichwedon’tyethave.Iamabigfanofvibesandtrusting
people because I believe that if you do that it pays you back a lot more.IfIeverwentbackonmyword,theywouldn’tgetinvolved,so
there’snopointinbeingshadyaboutit.Therewasonepointwhere
there was a miscommunication about share valuation pre- and post- investment with Dave, just something that got lost in translation,
and I made it my priority in that moment to sit down and get it sorted
out so everything was resolved in the most transparent and up-front way. In a couple of hours what could have been a bit of a crisis was resolved perfectly amicably.
What do you think makes you a good CEO?
IthinkleadershipissomethingI’mgoodat.Therewereexperiences
in my life that have made me good at leading people. I remember startingboardingataschoolcalledStJohnsinWindsor,whenIwas
six years old. I was crying because I missed home. The headmaster cameinandsaid,‘OK,don’tworry,whatsweetsdoyoulike?’Isaid
Skittles. He said ‘OK’. He then looked around the classroom and
asked everyone else what sweets they liked. They all told him and he said he’d be back in 20 minutes. He came back and gave me
the Skittles, which cheered me up for a bit, and gave everyone else sweets,too,sotheydidn’tfeeltherewaspreferentialtreatment.It
showed compassion. That was my first lesson in leadership. I’ve
never had a problem talking to people who are older and wiser thanmeandusingtheiradviceandexperience.Ithinkthat’savery
powerful way to create a decent company culture. I have read books as well – on start-up culture. You have to give people responsibility and autonomy and trust them to respond well to you and perform well for the company. In a bigger company you have a manager who acts astheconductortoanorchestra.Everyoneplaystheirpart.There’s
notreallyanyroomforpeopletospeakup,it’sveryrigid.Theway
thatstart-upsfunctionislikeajazzcombogroup.Youhaveasmall
number of musicians, a loose foundation for how things are going to go, but within that there is the scope and perspective for people to express themselves in their own individual way. Pixar have the Brain Trust.Idon’tthinkthathappensinenoughcreativecompanies.