PeggyBank allows users to convert legacy media into MPEG and JPEG files, which can then be shared online. Screenshot from peggybank.com.
As a key player in the launch of Omaha Steaks‘ first website and a longtime ecommerce expert at America Online, Jim Simon is no stranger to web success stories. But that the foundation for Simon’s most recent web-based business venture — old photos and home movies — has fueled a startup that’s rapidly growing and gaining recognition seems to have taken even Simon by surprise.
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Simon (left, photo courtesy of Simon) is the founder of Omaha-based PeggyBank, which converts customers’ legacy media (home movies, photos, slides and negatives) into digital content that is hosted online and sharable via social networking platforms, email and mobile devices. PeggyBank, which officially launched in March, had its genesis a couple years before that, when Simon first converted old family photos and videos into digital files as a gift for his siblings, then did the same for a handful of other family members and friends.
Soon, a summer camp Simon’s sister had attended as a child came calling in search of help converting old media for an anniversary celebration. Just like that, Simon had his first paying customer.
“I had never really figured out that this is something that would be fun to do and would have a lot of value,” Simon (left, photo courtesy of Simon) said.
So how exactly does PeggyBank deliver that value? Customers ship materials to PeggyBank, using either a “PeggyBox,” which is supplied by the company, or their own packing materials. PeggyBank then takes inventory of the boxes’ contents and provides customers itemized estimates for what it will cost to convert those materials. Customers at that point can redline items they don’t want converted and give the green light to what they do want converted. Customers then pay, and their materials are moved into the production queue. About three weeks later, customers receive notification that their media is posted online — and, if requested, the original materials are shipped back to them.
PeggyBank breaks down its three steps for users on their How It Works page. Screenshot from peggybank.com.
Simon emphasized a couple of important things about the PeggyBank process: first, it aims to reduce the hassle for customers who aren’t well-versed in digital media (read: older clientele).
“We sort of skip all of those (technical) questions and say, ‘Hey, we know what you’re trying to do,’ ” Simon said. ” ‘Everybody goes to the same format. We’re going to make these files accessible and relevant for you online so that you can share them with your children or your grandchildren over the internet via social networking or email or for download.’ “
Second, unlike most other companies in the space, PeggyBank sends customers’ digitized files to an online repository — the “PeggyVault” — rather than simply copying them to DVDs and mailing them back.
“I don’t really want to do that because I don’t think the customer has really gained anything at all,” Simon said of the DVD-based model. “In other words, if you’re just moving contents from one physical space to another, you’re still not going to use them. You’re just going to put them back in the drawer, in the box, stick them in the closet or the basement where they were before.”
“It’s different when you’re the one who is, you know, driving the whole thing. But … I would say that it’s certainly more fun. I don’t think there’s anything that’s more fun than seeing your own vision take shape.”
– Jim Simon
PeggyBank’s team is 12 employees strong and growing. Funded by its founder up to this point, the company is “actively in conversations with institutional financing,” Simon said.
There’s been an uptick in those sorts of conversations since PeggyBank appeared on TechCrunch last month. Simon said that press led to a significant spike in interest, “particularly from the venture capital community. We definitely got a lot of people’s attention that day.”
It’s attention that, when he first started converting old film as a favor to his family, Simon couldn’t have imagined. But as a first-time founder, he’s enjoying the ride.
“It’s different when you’re the one who is, you know, driving the whole thing,” Simon said. “But … I would say that it’s certainly more fun. I don’t think there’s anything that’s more fun than seeing your own vision take shape.”
The PeggyVault, Jim Simon says, helps differentiate his company from others that provide similar services. Screenshot from peggybank.com.
