Improve Video Quality with Nick Mattingly

Come on one left, this is George G. And the time is right. Welcome. Today’s guest is trying to powerful Nick Mattingly. Nick, are you ready to do this?

Nick Mattingly 0:20
And I’m here and let’s do it.

george grombacher 0:22
Let’s let’s let’s go. Mc is the co founder of switcher Inc. They are an organization making live streaming simple, better, and more impactful. They’re an official Facebook Live partner. He’s been featured in TechCrunch Inc, USA Today excited to have you on Nick, tell us a little about your personal life more about your work, why you do what you do.

Nick Mattingly 0:45
thing. So a parent first my wife and I had twins last year, two girls, they are a blast. Get some pets at home but I live in breed switcher been at this a while kind of stumbling in this direction. We built this in Louisville, Kentucky, we’re in the Midwest, so we weren’t coastal in New York, San Francisco, LA. And so it’s been really cool to to do something in tech in middle America. We also have offices in Switzerland, my CTO and co founder is in Europe. And so we’ve been accidentally global and distributed from day one that your over the last 18 months. Two years especially that is something that’s continued to be a part of how we operate and how the world has changed. But really what we’ve been building comes down to how video gets made. And up until now it’s it’s hard. It’s time consuming, it’s expensive. And we’re imagining a better and different way of making content. For businesses in particular things. There’s this huge spectrum of like pull out your phone point and shoot make an Instagram video to check the box, or pay someone else to make a video for you. And we believe there’s a huge green space in between where you can take ownership of making that content, make better video more often make content that connects people. And I think that has a big ripple effect. Not only can we be successful as the company, but our customers are creating great content, they’re building audiences, and the people that watch that video come to expect it. You know, if you don’t make video for one day, and you’ve been making more because of using something like switcher it’s really helping communities come together. And again, especially over the last 18 months, two years, we saw three to 4x growth in last year with with the things that were happening. So it’s been a wild ride, but I still feel like we’re just getting started. And there’s some we’re having fun.

george grombacher 2:52
Nice. I appreciate all that. So how did how did you happen to have Swiss partners?

Unknown Speaker 3:00
What’s the short version of the story? So before switcher started, a friend and I had an agency helping businesses make online video that also evolved into us doing video hosting this was when YouTube was still really early. And if you didn’t want ads on your content, or you want it on your website, people were looking for a solution. But just because we checked that box, didn’t we solve the whole puzzle, people still had to make that content to begin with. And that’s where there were a lot of hurdles and it took people a long time to get started. So we get familiar with a lot of different solutions out there and being things that take together a lot of cases depending on budget or timelines or people, for our customers. And we came across this really interesting app for iPhone or an iPad where you could see video from for other mobile devices and hit a button and they all started recording. I reached out to the company and it was one guy in Switzerland that had built this really cool project started talking about what we’re doing. And I won’t say the rest is history because we’re still working on it. But that was that was the start of our relationship and trying to bring those two worlds together. And we’ve gone all in on switcher. So from that get going from that transition. We went two years Bootstrap and self funded. We brought on other founders to help make things happen. And we weren’t paying people at the beginning but we were charging for the product from day one. And through that we got some really good traction we were a launch partner for Facebook when they first introduced live video we were doing this before we had repairs popped up I don’t even know if people remember those was kind of the first taste of social live video. And since then, we’ve been able to restructure the company and bring in venture capital and the I was, and 20 plus cities in 2019. I mean, it’s it’s a grind you go, go go. But we’ve been able to get this to a point where we built a really great team, I’ve got people that are smarter than me, you’ll help help us kind of figure this thing out. And there’s just so much opportunity.

george grombacher 5:19
Amazing. Well, certainly congratulations and everything. And there’s probably a dozen different podcasts in there about forming a partnership and a business relationship with somebody that is essentially a stranger on the internet, but obviously shares common values and then restructuring your company taking on investors and all that. So I think that that’s all super exciting.

Unknown Speaker 5:44
Me will write a book one day.

george grombacher 5:45
Yeah, I think that there’s definitely a book deal in there of some, some kind. So tell me about when when somebody why somebody downloads switcher uses switcher and and and what you’re hoping that it helps them to do?

Unknown Speaker 6:04
Yeah, there are a lot of different types of videos. And I won’t say that we solve for all of those, you might have the the flagship video on your website or a 15 second Instagram video. We’ve really built a product that allows you to document life as its unfolding your capture life in the moment, but to do that from multiple perspectives. And so it’s really this idea of editing while you shoot instead of capturing a bunch of footage and copying it to your computer and editing it and moving things around. And watching it render and watching it upload and having all this downtime. In the process with switcher, you can set up to three iPhones. And as something is happening, you’re making a decision for when the show came or one or when the show came or to or when to put a logo on screen, or bring in other multimedia and graphics like photos or videos or sound effects. As soon as you’re done, that video is available to upload or repurpose, but you can also stream live on most major social platform, and even to private players on your website or for ticketed events. We even rolled out a switcher as a webcam or so when we think about where your content lives, we didn’t want to limit people, there’s a lot of flexibility and options for where you can put those videos. So just the nature of a product that allows you to edit life in the moment. A lot of our early adopters were freelancers and churches and podcasters and news and formats were that that’s a natural fit. But as as we look at what’s happening in the SMB space, and the role that videos playing in how they communicate online, we think there’s a really big need to help businesses in particular take ownership of making video, and not just checking the box or not having to pay someone else to do it for you. And so that’s the problem that we’re trying to solve. That’s the kind of content you would see made with switcher, there’s a lot of great tools that have come out over the past few years alone. A lot of those being browser based for video chat experiences, we even have a video chat function inside of switcher we could bring in guests from a different location. But where we really shine is having something that’s mobile, that allows you to use hardware you already have like iPhones and iPads without spending 10s of 1000s of dollars to try and get kind of a TV type production and making it really really easy where anyone can do that. More recently, we introduced a vertical video. So we we came from a video production background and we’re kind of hard nosed about you know, TV type format. But you gotta listen to the market. And you know that the engagements happening on stories and shorts and reels and Tik Tok and Instagram. I haven’t seen a vertical video multi cam solution, I think we might be one of the first to do that and enable that type of content to be made. So we’re really excited about what that means. And where we can take this we’ve built in things that allow you to do one tap switching where there are templates or cards with logos and cameras and texts that you can customize with your brand profile and without being a video professional, make professional video, lineup your shots almost like a PowerPoint and just move through. So we will just continue to iterate on the solution. We really value feedback from our users. We have an incredible online community of 10s of 1000s of people that are creating content and sharing their stories and asking questions and helping one another. And it’s just been so cool to see Everyone come together and the people that we’ve touched, there are over a million videos made with switcher last year. And that’s just scratching the surface. How many? How many people are seeing that content and benefiting from capturing the stories that are all around us that go missed? Where you it could be why not set up a camera?

george grombacher 10:22
Yeah, awesome. How much of this is really, really surprising to you? And how much of it is, yeah, I saw this coming.

Unknown Speaker 10:33
Oh, gosh. I think I always knew I wanted to do my own thing. And if I if I had had to put my finger on my superpower, it’s kind of seeing around corners, you know, where, where, where technology is heading or with or without switcher, what we’re doing. But also seeing how those technologies collide and how they come together. And when we started switcher, phones where we’re just now starting to have LG, LTE and 4g coverage outside of major metropolitan areas, it became way more accessible. The cameras on these devices were improving at Mach speed, or it was just like every six months, it was better and better and better. People were hungry for video, you social was all about sharing links and sharing photos. It was just kind of a natural next step. And that’s been eight years ago at this point, we’ve been on a long journey switcher Inc is five years old, but we were doing things before this that kind of led to where we are today. And you that that kind of innovation is happening all the time. And so even though we we kind of saw those pieces coming together in the beginning, it was still a lot of the early adopters that we’re experiencing that we’re still just at the beginning of that curve for adoption and what this could look like. And there are new things that are coming into play around commerce and and the role that video plays and how products get sold. Things that are happening and how will interact with content. You’re hearing all kinds of buzzwords around the metaverse and like what does that mean, NF T’s and digital products. You really got to keep our ear to the ground on where things are heading. And I think there’s an opportunity for us to stay relevant for a really long time if we keep learning and we keep evolving.

george grombacher 12:34
Yeah, that’s that’s, it’s fascinating. So certainly the ability to see around corners right now, as it always has been is immensely valuable. And and also probably, I mean, we all have seen the movie up where the dogs constantly running off and chasing squirrels. Right? How do you deal with shiny object syndrome?

Unknown Speaker 12:55
Yeah, funny enough. My dog’s name is Doug. Okay. She’s a corgi Basset mix just looks exactly like a corgi but floppy ears. Yeah, you’ve really got to have focus and prioritize the right things. No, it’s, it can be easy to make a lot of incremental changes, or to see something that’s new, that’s getting people excited. And, and say, that’s where we want to go. But actually, this will probably tie into to our recommendation here at the end, you got to know where you are, where you want to go. You’ve got to have a vision and a strategy to be able to back in to make things happen. And that doesn’t mean just fly by the seat of your pants or or seeing what’s happening in the marketplace and jumping on the next trend. It’s having a really clear view of the the impact you want to have on the world, or on your own life, and designing it so that that can become real. And so I think we’ve always had a really clear vision of what switcher can and should be. We’re still working on that. And we can we can lean into some of the things that are happening around us, but we’ve got to stay disciplined and focus to make those things happen.

george grombacher 14:15
Yeah, amen. How, how hard is it to use?

Unknown Speaker 14:21
switcher? Yeah. It’s not Instagram or Snapchat. We’re not a free consumer product. So I don’t want to mislead anybody there. But we are bringing professional grade production tools to the masses. No, we have a SaaS subscription that starts at $45 a month. It’s it’s not out of reach for anybody. And we’ve seen customers that have never done video before outside of a kid’s birthday party or your family event that turned around and day one are having success with switcher and that means you’re doing more than just turning on your camera but you’re putting your logo on Thinking of framing your content or putting a social handle on. And even with just the one device, starting to layer in those other elements so that you get recognizable video that can stand out and be differentiated from everything else has just muddied and looks the same. There’s so much content out there, it’s really, really important that you do something that represents your brand, whether it’s you personally or for your company in your business. And so we’ve gotten a lot of shiny features, and there’s a lot of room to grow in our product. And we see people that have come from using other professional grade solutions that can step into switcher and do 80% of what they would have done at a much, much higher budget. But we also see people that have done little to no video before that can walk into this and have a lot of fun. And really quickly. We also have a supported product. So between our our knowledge base and help center where we’ve documented every question we’ve ever been asked, and there’s tutorials and videos, to our online user, group and community where if you get stuck, or you have a question, you can put it out there you can find other people that are maybe using the product in the same way that you are, and we offer dedicated support, you can email our team, and we are really responsive. And we will help you work through your questions and your needs. And not just say good luck. So if you get stuck, we’re here to help. And I think that’s something that we’ve really embraced and is a big differentiator for us beyond just you know, building a cool product. And, and kind of where we fit into the market. But being able to build this community, and build a relationship with our customers and help them be successful.

george grombacher 16:48
I love it. And it’s so cool that certainly having a super engaged and cohesive community that is helping give you feedback to improve the product and maybe what’s going to come next but also then giving the people who are using the thing, actual support and helping them figure out how to use it in their life in their business. Certainly invaluable. So love it. Absolutely. People are ready for that difference making tip, what do you have for them?

Unknown Speaker 17:19
I think I kind of teased it a little bit already. But I wouldn’t say the thing that’s had the biggest impact on me, professionally and personally has been around around the idea of like, three year planning, like, know what you want, and where you want to go and design. That to be real. It’s funny, because I did that for a long time in business. But I just completely trashed my personal life because I was working around the clock, you know, I was in that grind. That’s not sustainable. You can’t do that forever. It’s not good for you, it’s not good for your relationships. It’s not good for your company. If you’re putting yourself in a point where you don’t have you’re not bringing your best self. And so I I’m not gonna lie, there’s been moments where like advocate the wall in there was a very distinct moment where I thought I might throw in the towel. It’s like, do I keep doing this, but I felt like I would be letting so many people down. It’s like not not only our founding team, but our customers and you the there was so much that had already given up to try and make this happen. And you’re taking something that I’ve been doing in business the whole time and applying it to my own life, like what do I need to do to put myself in a better situation and my family in a better situation made everything so much better. And so I think that is something that has just really put me in a lot different position. And it’s made me a better founder and a better leader. And I’m a lot happier. I’m not working around the clock anymore. I actually have weekends and take vacations and hang out with the kids and life is good.

george grombacher 19:13
Well, I think that that is great stuff that definitely gets come up. Yeah, keeping things in context and certainly three years of perspective, I think is awesome. When they thank you so much for coming on. Where can people learn more about you and how can they learn more about switcher?

Unknown Speaker 19:28
Yeah, you can be sure to check us out online at switcher studio.com You can also download the app from the App Store on iPhone and iPad that is switcher studio.

george grombacher 19:40
Love it. Well if you enjoyed this as much as I did, make your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas go to switcher studio.com and check out all the great resources and even if you’re not making video now be thinking about it. Get started the right way if you currently are whatever solution you’re using it’s definitely worth checking out you can download the app as well thanks connect

Unknown Speaker 20:06
Sure thing take care

george grombacher 20:07
and until next time keep fighting the good fight we’re all in this together