Interview with Entrepreneur / Phoneographer Keegan Sard
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Recently on our blog, we've been featuring interviews from directors and cinematographers that use our products, but we have to yet to talk to any entrepreneurs - that changes today. Keegan Sard has founded three successful companies: Keegan Ventures, Simplegration and Friday Beers and is an avid phoneographer.
We met briefly for an interview at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, and since then, he has been steadily expanding his businesses and working on his phoneography skills. He took some time out of his busy schedule to share his thoughts on entrepreneurship, essential gear for marketing your business on a smartphone and the future of phoneography.
BG: Where did you get the idea for Friday Beers?
Keegan: My co-founder, Lee Mathers, and I run a consulting company called Simplegration. We wanted to do more work with startups, but we had very little startup knowledge and had never created one ourselves. With a love of craft beer and maybe a hint of laziness, we believed that we found a market niche by delivering a 6-pack of craft beer to people desk's on a Friday afternoon. We launched in Brisbane a little over a year ago and will be launching in both Sydney and Melbourne in the next few weeks.
BG: What advice would you give to someone that wants to be an entrepreneur?
Keegan: In the beginning, there’s not a lot of upside. Yes, you get the freedom to choose your own hours and to pick your own priorities but the entrepreneurial life consumes you. I’ve read that only 2% of entrepreneurs succeed, so you must be ready to hustle and work ridiculous hours to get through the gestation period.
My lessons in life as an entrepreneur, thus far, would be to own my losses and learn from them, build a network of advisors to help you grow, and always give first instead of take.
BG: How has phoneography helped you expand your businesses or businesses that you manage?
Keegan: Phoneography has been a truly amazing enabler for not only Friday Beers but for many of our Simplegration clients. Now you don’t have to have expensive kits to get a great shot and you can focus on what really matters, the story.
Mix this with great accessories like Beastgrip Pro, RODE microphones (my favorites are the NTG4+, VideoMic Pro, and RODE Link Filmmaker Kit), FiLMiC Pro app, and an Aputure light to create a great travelling shoot kit.
BG: How did you first hear about Beastgrip?
Keegan: When I got my iPhone 6 Plus I had such a powerful camera in my pocket but it was a shame when you got a great shot but it was unusable in post because of stabilization. Then I saw the Beastgrip Pro Kickstarter and it hasn’t left my bag since!
BG: Where do you see the future of phoneography in the next five years?
Keegan: The future of phoneography is looking bright - with better camera technology, accessories, and apps like Filmic Pro - but I don’t see phoneography replacing existing professional cameras entirely just yet. I see us moving towards a blended model where we have a Blackmagic, Canon 80D, Osmo, and a couple of latest iPhones all holding their own in our kit bag.
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