Cameo raises $50M to deliver personalized messages from celebrities, influencers | Hacker News Reader

Cameo raises $50M to deliver personalized messages from celebrities, influencers

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72 pointstqahhaar47 comments

I hadn't heard of cameo before, but my wife and I went to a broadway show, she very much enjoyed one of the performers, and afterwards she looked him up on twitter and sent me his twitter feed to show me some tweet or other. On his twitter profile he had a link to his Cameo profile, and for $20 I had him send my wife a little video about that performance we were at, and to talk about the show generally. A couple days later she got a 45 second clip he recorded during intermission, he talked about the show, thanked her for being a fan, and was generally very gracious. She was surprised and delighted, and I felt like it was $20 well-spent.

So, while I'm super skeptical about the C-list celebrity market ($50 for Chris Hansen? Presumably to make a to catch a predator joke?), I think there may be an opportunity here for fans to connect with the long tail of artists and celebrities.

your anecdote makes me understand a little bit of the value of cameo, despite otherwise being baffled by the product.

celebrity culture is fascinating, not because i care much about celebrities, but because its value seems on the surface of it both out of proportion and hard to pin down. and our emotional and social systems seem to be subverted somehow in the process.

the entertainment value of a movie, show or concert, and even their cultural value, seems somewhat straightforward, but how do we (over-?)value the entertainer beyond their craft skills? why do people so adore them from a distance, enough for something like cameo to have a valuation in the hundreds of millions?

I think people might be underestimating how the meaning of celebrity has changed - I have two kids who follow all sorts of different people on Youtube and elsewhere from whom they would be far more thrilled to get a personalized video message than from some "real" A-list celebrity, and I would even go so far to say the same for myself.

$20 bucks for a 1 minute personalized clip for a special occasion is pocket change (how many hundreds of dollars do we spend on toys that we know very well are going to end up on the shelf with all the others), and for all but the biggest Youtubers, $20/minute (plus overhead time, etc) is easy money. Plus, 3 years later the kid gets to rewatch the video and laugh at how dumb they were for liking that person!

It's a shame it's no longer an option to invest in startups like you could back during the dotcom boom, although any of the big platforms could probably knock off this technology in a weekend or two.

I think it's more practical to ask why anyone enjoys anything. The value of going to a concert might be clear to you, and he value was clear to myself at a younger age. But these days, most of the time I find most concerts kind of boring, as I have a hard time focusing on the music in front of me because I start dreaming about something else.

Personally, I think getting a shout out from a celebrity would be pretty cool.

I used to be member of a subreddit where people used to get cameos from people like Chris Hansen and get them to say inside jokes they weren’t aware of.

By far the best purchase was Norm MacDonald which I believe one of the board members paid $150 just to make us laugh.

There’s a real market in novelty with these things.

It’s like gift shop level celebrity stuff with more personalization. But better for social media.

I'm honestly surprised Cameo is doing as well as it is. To me, I personally find it sort of cheesy. I didn't purchase a Cameo or anything, but I did sign up on the service to see what it was like, and who all was on it. It seemed to be filled with quite a range of actors/actresses/celebs/etc. but since each of them were basically just reading a cliché "happy birthday" type script with insert {blank} name into the Cameo, it just felt disingenuous to me. A lot of actors also seemed to really "phone it in" for it. I was surprised how much people were paying for these, to be frank. If I received one from a friend, I just don't think I'd see the value, and I'm even a big tv/movie fan. "So, you just paid a celeb to say a few lines? Okay, neat, I guess?" I feel like it was probably more unique at the start when X friend didn't realize you had easy access to the celeb, so it felt like "OMG, how did you get them to do/say that?!" But now that it's getting more popular, it seems to me the value of it being unique would get washed out fast. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think the best way for Cameo to actually expand would be to open it up to allow you to book a celeb for more than just a quick little video blurb. Like being able to invite them to parties, or events, and pay them for an actual true "cameo." It would obviously come with a price, but to me, that would be much more innovative.

In my experience as a Cameo customer, the videos are received very well as a gag gift. "OMG, I can't believe you got them to make me a video!"

To me, the open question is if the novelty factor will wear off. I don't think I would ever get the same person a second Cameo. I'm not even sure if I would keep buying Cameos if the service was well-known. A big part of the gag is "How did you pull that off?!" Maybe there are enough birthdays that it just doesn't matter.

Also wondering if deepfake could eventually disrupt them

Without an explicit license from the celebrity that likely would infringe on image or likeness of the celebrity and not be protected by fair use.

Which will matter to absolutely no one, just as music is remixed and memes made with no recourse.

For individuals doing it on their own, sure, but if it’s a service (like this but with “deepfake”) it wouldn’t last long before the lawsuits come in.

The component that generates would be distinct from the model used. You make the model freely available, but charge to generate. Highly unlikely we’re going to outlaw math distributed online.

Given enough time, assume you’ll be able to run this on a phone eventually.

No chance in hell this isn't nuked into oblivion by the most amateur lawyer. Money is changing hands, legal figleafs won't cut it.

Surely no one actually cares all that much about the video itself? The novelty is the fact the actual celebrity took some time to do something involving you or someone you know.

You can already happily Photoshop a hugely convincing signed celebrity photo, I don't see people who want such things affected by this or feeling the real thing is worth any less. Giving someone a deep fake as a gift or novelty would feel somewhat strange/hollow.

The more disconcerting problem is, even if it's a trend and not a fad ... there are still valuation problems with this.

Based on what? Celebs & pop stars are already getting paid millions per year to speak/play at private events. Commoditizing that market and making it accessible on a variety of platforms at a variety of pricing tiers is going to bring in a ton of money.

How much is a 'ton'? 5 Million? 10 million? 100 million?

How big really is the market for a celeb sending a custom 10 second video talking about something, and can this entity really control that market? How do they maintain their margins.

Take Social Media for example, it'd seem there doesn't seem to be a massive player that controls how the sponsorship money flows into influencers, and not for a lack of trying.

I think Cameo a really cool business idea.For me it would mostly be a gag gift, but I definitely think it's sustainable. It gets creators in front of their fans, and lets their fans send money directly to them. I see comparisons between Cameo, YouTube, Patreon, and Twitch.

==But now that it's getting more popular, it seems to me the value of it being unique would get washed out fast.==

Or, the prices will rise and Cameo revenue will increase. Each celeb has only so many hours in a day, so there is an upper-bound on the number of Cameo's they can realistically record.

From Crain's Chicago [1]: "On average, customers are paying $62 per video, nearly triple the amount just 12 months ago. Cameo keeps 25 percent."

==Like being able to invite them to parties, or events, and pay them for an actual true "cameo." It would obviously come with a price, but to me, that would be much more innovative.==

Isn't this idea basically the Fyre app? It seems like Cameo took a solid route, it will be interesting to see where this round takes them.

[1] https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john-pletz-technology/cameo-...

> Like being able to invite them to parties, or events, and pay them for an actual true "cameo." It would obviously come with a price, but to me, that would be much more innovative.

This so much. I would never pay for a VIP session with a guitarist I like, but I would pay quite a bit for a couple of actual guitar lessons.

You frame this as sensible business advice that would move Cameo from where they are now to being a business that could capture your money, but really what you're saying is that you aren't Cameo's target market. There's no reason for Cameo to change if they're doing well. They don't need to pivot simply because they don't appeal to you or me.

People pay tons of money to take posed pictures with celebrities at meet and greets all the time, so I think that Cameos at least have a clear audience. It might not be for everyone, but I think it's kind of fun especially for minor celebrities who are fairly affordable to hire for something silly.

On the one hand I feel the desire to drop a sighing Jesus as to how stupid this is (how many companies/ideas were thought to be just ridiculous). On the other hand I can't help but see the similarity with plain old advertising, where someone gets paid to read lines to a camera and fake feelings on how awesome/cool something is. We know ice cream doesn't provoke orgasm like facial expressions in most people, but somehow the spots still get made and sold. This could turn out to be huge.

For instance, there are night establishments that have entertainers (singers, mainly) who get requests from the audience to say something, in exchange for money. It gets pretty ridiculous like things that go like "Let those who come from neighborhood X know that we have plenty of money and we made it ages ago... Screw the new rich. Check out my {fancy_car} outside.. Die of jealousy".

These people are considered stupid by almost everyone, however we're talking about serious cash. Alcohol, women, drugs, and egos. Some individuals leave something like $200k on the table on a given night. They want to be remembered as badasses or something.

Then there's the give and take. The entertainer gets paid. Even poor people put in money for their 15 seconds.

Ads are about products, in general. Cameo seems to be about people, and people have egos. This could really turn out to be huge, despite the initial cheesiness.

>Cameo has a roster of 15,000 celebrities that they believe could expand to 5 million.

5 million celebrities???

What does the platform offer the celebrities for the 25% cut? This is a cute gimmick, but how on earth is it worth $300MM? Any value comes from novelty; when everyone is getting a custom message from a "celebrity", how much value is left? Are they betting that this society gets more enamored with influencers and celebrity? God, I hope not.

On top of that, is there even 5 million celebs to begin with? That number seems to high to me.

"Kleiner Perkins’ Fushman recently became available for booking"

if being a partner at Kleiner Perkins counts as celebrity, then yes, they should have no trouble finding 5 million.

If you count niche markets, then yes.

I just found out that a friend of mine is one of the best players in the world of a certain card game similar to Magic The Gathering(but nowhere near as popular). I knew he played the game and was good at it, but only found out he was 'famous' in the scene when someone came up to our table when were getting lunch to take a selfie with him.

I guess it all depends on the revenue, which has to exist for that evaluation right?

It would be interesting how the founders justify for the novelty aspect when presenting to investors. I will say for a past birthday, I've ordered from c-list celebrities and athletes and its been a hit. But if everyone does it, it won't be nearly as funny.

> Are they betting that this society gets more enamored with influencers and celebrity?

Super sad, but has anything shown much to the contrary?

Will a funny 30 second video to kick off your fantasy football draft ever not be worth $100?

yes.

I don't play myself but have some close friends who do and for the stakes they play at (loser of the league pays for an extravagant steak/lobster dinner with high quality whiskey and wine for all players and a date) then $100 extra to kick off a draft with a laugh and probably a joke at the expense of last years loser is well within bounds of what many people will do for a hobby/joke.

Exactly. I'm really blown away at how others cannot see how this is a license to print money, now that they have amassed such celebrities who are constantly responding to fans.

Sure it might be a fad, but network effects are already kickin' and they might just win this market. They might very well be cash flow positive and just not lucrative right now bc focusing on growth/marketing.

Personally, like the first response above, I race in an amateur, local kart league, which is not a cheap sport, and we have a site, instagram, video coverage, everything. The list of F1 & Indy race drivers who could do a video saying "hello" to our league, comparing to what we indulge on a hobby already, is peanuts. I'm sure my friends would take doing a few proposals very seriously.

IMO wannabe YT-IG influencers would FLOCK at the chance of having a celeb saying hello to them and posting on their timelines ("look who just sent hi").

Check out RGIII's examples. He seems to really enjoy doing it - he could absolutely make something funny.

https://www.cameo.com/rg3

Whilst this market baffles me theres no doubht its massively lucrative when you consider it can likely compare to atwitch service like twitch in a broad sense

Pay a personality for a second of recognition except as an added bonus you get some reactions in the chat

I used this service a while ago, when I saw the host of podcast I follow was available as a "cameo", my request for the video was a in-joke from the podcast, I was sent the video a couple days later, I watched it, laughed and waited for the next podcast where I hoped he would talk about it, when he did it was equally as funny as the original video and took the in-joke deeper again.

I think this use case provided a lot more value and depth than a more pedestrian "congratulations on graduating".

Whilst I think 300mm is pretty punchy, I'm with a lot of commenters here that they make an excellent novelty gift.

We used https://www.celebvm.com/ (an English competitor that doesn't seem to have taken off in the same way) a few years back to get John Challis (Boyce from Only Fools, for the UK readers) to do a message for a relative. Which to be fair was very good and absolutely worth £20.

The relative was delighted - but I think a lot of that was "wow, how did you get him to do that". If Cameo becomes as big as the valuation, I think some of the magic sauce is lost. "Wow, how did you get that?!" becomes "oh, you paid X to get me a video from Cameo."

Cameo is a competitor to a project I worked on that just launched called Givvli - https://givvli.com

These platforms could be particularly fruitful for musicians and YouTube stars. It's a fascinating space to watch.

“It’s a new way for people to connect and the delight generated from this platform is unparalleled,” Galanis said.

This is interesting; I would think the wow-effect wears off the more celebrity cameos someone receives. Clever way to make money using internet technology and access to celebrities/influencers.

I could see a deepfake shadow business arising whose customers are the celebrities -- now the celebrity can do many more unique Cameos a day

If any Cameo employees are on HN please note that clicking "Visit Ice-T's Page" is a broken link :)

If the celebs are just doing pre-scripted videos with fill in the blanks, how hard would it be to alter the audio and fill in the blanks yourself using a machine?

IIRC there was a Google deep AI project or something similar which was able to "match" a human voice.

Oh I remember this app:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/celebrities-...

KP is a bit washed up at the moment, so I wouldn’t take them leading on an investment as a sign this is an obvious home run. Feels very faddy to me.

agreed

Oh heck yeah Cameo team, ya’ll are killing it!

$50M means a valuation at least north of $150M I just don't see how this gets to that sum.

How is this a sustainable business at the kind of scale needed to 10x a $50M investment?

Especially by KP?

#Bubblesignal

It's pretty hard to ascertain the value of a company and the required exit size from a a single investment round's size alone. There could be warrants to buy more stock, liquidation preferences, ratchets, etc. The math from this alone can get pretty tricky.

This seems like a revenue generating company from the get-go, unlike something like facebook, so I suspect they already have revenue and it's growing pretty fast. Given America's (and other countries too) fascination with Celebrities, I could see this as a pretty highly valued company.

Finding the 'technical value' of things can be tricky, as you say with all the special features of a deal.

But in general, it's actually fairly straightforward.

Investors are usually looking to take x% ownership, ballpark in a round, and they are all looking for at least a 10x return.

Technicalities of deals vary, but in the end, a 'round' of investors may get 10-30% and they have big expectations for returns, otherwise it's not worth it.

Given the paths to liquidity are IPO or 'get acquired', I'm hard pressed to see the logic on this one. How many pure media companies have done major IPO's based on hard, forecastable metrics lately? And what kind of 'big pockets' company would be interested in making a $500M-$1B acquisition of such a thing? Disney? I don't think so really.

I can certainly see the founders making some kind of 'big story' about what they are going to do, but the essentials of what they are doing is not great. I don't see how the experience will be protected, I don't see a lot of competitive advantage, I don't see how they get to the kinds of sales required for those massive valuations, and of course this has a lot of 'fad risk'.

Another 50 million dollars of the world's hard-earned time and effort well spent by the VCs there.

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