NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: Interview with Sam Odio, Founder of Divvyshot

I first found my way to Divvyshot though the Y Combinator site. Y Combinator is an investor in Divvyshot and after just a bit of exploration, it is very easy to see why Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, took an interest in the company. The photo sharing marketplace is certainly crowded. Luckily for Divvyshot, it's a market crowded by many companies who have nearly identical service.

Sam Odio, founder of Divvyshot, identified three holes in the photo sharing market:

1.) Direct integration with the photographer's computer photo library
2.) Ability for multiple people to contribute to one photo album
3.) Maintenance of a photo's original resolution to preserve photo quality while sharing

Like many entrepreneurs, Sam took pain points, things that frustrated him, and crafted a solution. That solution is Divvyshot. I recently had the chance to interview Sam about his company, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his feelings about the current economy.

To view the full interview, please visit http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m7d5-Intreview-with-Sam-Odio-Founder-of-Divvyshot

My Year of Hopefulness - Do You See What I See?

Today I went over to the U.N. to see a photo that my dear friend, Amy Marsico, worked on. The photo exhibit is entitled Do You See What I See? It captures the thoughts and emotions of displaced children living in refugee camps in Yemen and Namibia. The powerful images and the words of the children reacting to those images ranged from loneliness to hope to intense memories of the experiences they've been through in the camps and in their home countries.

The exhibit is the output of work my friend, Amy, and her colleagues did in support of the UNHCR's Convention of the Rights of the Child. The Convention puts forward that children have the right to actively participate in the decision-making that effects their lives and communities. It has been ratified by nearly every country in the world. The U.S. is one of the few who have not adopted it.

What struck me about the thoughts of the children featured in the photo exhibit is how easy they were to understand. They had all the same concerns we have - being liked, companionship, future opportunity, learning, a desire to be safe. On my way home, I considered how children might see these streets of New York I walk along every day, what they might think as they walked through my life.

I considered how the child I used to be would view the adult I am now. What she'd be happy about and what she'd like to change. She'd want me to be having fun, freely voicing my thoughts, and making a difference. She'd want me to be excited to get up out of bed in the morning and out into the world. And she'd never want me to sit still. Ever.

I like to think that I carry the little child I used to be in my heart and mind as I go through my adult life. I'd like to think that though I've grown older, I've kept that young, optimistic, idealistic view on life. I'd like to think that what I see now is what I've always seen: a world full of opportunity and hope, a world where I can make a difference.

The photo above can be found at: http://www.refugeechild.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/090406.jpg

My Year of Hopefulness - The Art of Gregory Colbert

I recently purchased a print by photographer Gregory Colbert. I am in love with his work because it lifts me up in a way that is wholly different from most other fine art. He's famous for his sepia-toned photographs of people interacting with animals. A boy in Mexico reads a story to an elephant, a gymnast swims with whales, a child crouches down beside a leopard.

The images are striking in their simplicity and their profound belief that animals and people can co-exist peacefully and for mutual benefit. I find that they are images that help me to meditate and center my mind that runs at a million miles an hour these days. I never grow tired of looking at them, imagining the stories behind those photographs. I ask myself so many questions as I look at them: how did this animal and this person come to be in the same place? How do they know each other? What were they doing just before and what did they do just after the photo was taken?

This is the beauty of art like Gregory Colbert's: it allows us to imagine the improbable, it takes us on a journey that we would never go on otherwise, and it inspires us to dream. Through good art, we actually grow our idea of the world around us and can begin to see our role in the world with fresh eyes. All of sudden we realize that the improbable is not impossible. All things become likely.

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: The Business of Art - New York's Armory Show

My latest post on Examiner.com that considers the business of art with the New York's Armory Show as a case study.

For the full article, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m3d9-The-Business-of-Art-New-Yorks-Armory-Show

Photo Credit:
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Picture of the Year

The Today Show recently ran a contest to determine the "picture of the year". There were images of Obama, Michael Phelps, moving photos of conflicts around the world. But the theme that ultimately won out was nature. 3 of the top 5 photos chosen by viewers depicted acts of nature around the world, the top one being of a lightning storm over a volcano in Southern Chile. The photo is dramatic - so much so that you'd think it was doctored up or contrived. Rest assured, it is real and awe-inspiring. It was taken by photographer Carlos Gutierrez for the Patagonia Press. 

I think about the environment a lot, its beauty and power. I used to work for an environmental nonprofit and it is one of the main causes I donate to. I read extensively on the topic and am constantly working to lower my carbon footprint. I am certainly a green consumer and firmly believe that there are enormous public health implications if we do not do everything we can to protect our natural world. I am so pleased that Mr. Gutierrez's photo won - it shows that I am not alone in being inspired by nature, not by a long-shot. Of all the photos that were taken in this historic year, nature reigned supreme in inspiring people around the world.

  

I hope 2009 will be the year when green energy and environmental conservation takes center stage - in this country as well as in other countries around the world. I hope we put policies and regulations in place that halt the rapid disappearance of species and habitat. I hope that more people will be willing to pay a bit more now for green products rather than pay dearly for the consequences of not protecting the environment in years to come. As a society, I'd like to see us protect and treasure life.

There is a song that John Denver sings on the Muppet Christmas album that is one of my favorites. It's about a little tree named Alfie. At the end of the song, John communicates one small request from Alfie, and whenever I hear it I get a little bit choked up. It bears repeating. "You see life is a very special kind of thing. And not just for a chosen few, but for every living, breathing thing, not just me and you. So in your Christmas prayers this year, Alfie asked me if I'd ask you to say a prayer for the wind, and the water, and the wood, and those who live there, too." That's a request I'm very happy to fill. 

The photo above can be found at: http://breh.myncblogs.com/files/2008/05/volcanoupi_800x531-580x384.jpg