Interview With Bruce Livingstone – Founder and CEO of iStockphoto

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Bruce is the founder of iStockphoto, the world’s biggest FREE image and stock website on the Internet. Back in 2006 Bruce sold iStockphoto for $50 million to Getty Images and has since stayed on as the CEO and in this interview he shares his top tips and lets us know how he has built up iStockphoto to such a high level. First off – can we have a little background information on you Bruce – Where you live? How old you are? (if you don't mind answering) What motivates you? What inspires you?

I'm 38 years old, I live in Seattle, WA with my gorgeous fiancé and hooligan (15-month old) son, Sozé. He's named after the character, Kaiser Sozé in the movie, "The Usual Suspects." I'm motivated and inspired by communal subsistence, organizing and working for a common purpose.

1) Tell us about your main project, iStockphoto ? Why did you launch iStockphoto ? Where are you at now with iStockphoto ?

I’m a creative guy, a musician, designer and a photographer. I'm not really great at any one of those things. However, I did have a great idea. The idea was to develop a credit based system where I could trade images with other photographers and designers. The deal was simple, if you downloaded an image, the photographer who shot the image was  given a credit to download another image. That was it. The only reason we started charging was due to the explosive IT costs that went along with our initial growth. That’s also when we came up with the idea to compensate contributors as well. That was significant because it was the birth of "Microstock". That was 2000. I have been the CEO and President of iStockphoto since its inception.

Today iStock is a digital warehouse with a diverse and massive catalogue of photography, illustration, video, flash/animation and audio available at affordable prices. Our focus is to be the only destination for artists to buy and sell creative works. Daily, we focus our attention on operational excellence and concentrate on the details of our client's experience.

2) I understand that iStockphoto relies on their contributors to supply content to monetize. How does this work and how has this lead to the huge success of iStockphoto ?

iStockphoto relies on contributing artists to upload their creative works for us to sell. As an example, a photographer uploads a picture to our servers. From there it is vetted for our legal standards of copyright, trademark and releases. From there the file is further reviewed for quality and creativity. Once the contribution is cleared for sale, it is put onto iStockphoto.com where the community puts it in lightboxes, comments, rates and categorizes the image as it becomes part of our inventory. Contributing artists start at a 20% commission. After some success on iStockphoto, reaching milestones of 250, 2,500, 10,000, 25,000 sales, the artist is eligible for an additional 5% at each milestone, reaching a maximum of 40% payout if they choose to be exclusively represented by iStock.

3) I have used iStockphoto to find images to add to my web pages to make them more interesting, do you think it is important to use images in web pages?

Effective communication is achieved by first attracting people to look at your copy. In my opinion, the best way to accomplish this is to illustrate it with creative imagery.
 
4) Since launching iStockphoto it has gone from strength to strength and has just been getting more popular everyday, what advice would you a young entrepreneur promoting their website? What has been the single biggest impact on your business with marketing?

Communicate openly, honestly and quickly with key stakeholders, media and with internal staff. Find your audience and make it meaningful. Constant innovation and progress is crucial. Find an evangelist. Get someone to help you promote your web site and get great press about it. Keyword optimization and buying adwords have had the most impact on iStock.

5) I have been using iStockphoto for a few years now and have noticed every time I come back that your service has improved, how do you make sure your business is continuously improving and offering your customers a better service?

Constant progress and innovation is imperative in a competitive market. We focus on operational excellence, but try and keep a balance with new features and innovation that keep people coming back.

6) Do you think that entrepreneurialism is something that is in your blood? Or is it something that can be learned?

I think being an entrepreneur is born out of necessity. If the need exists, then that's what you will become. 

7) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Someone told me once to be more strategic. It's a simple bit of advice, but very effective.

What advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

Don't be afraid to take risks and make mistakes. Borrow some money from Angels, family or friends at low interest rates – you're going to need it.

9) How many hours do you work daily and what are your daily tasks for your sites?

Less now than I did in the previous 9 years. These days I spend most of my time in management and executive meetings. When I first started iStock I would work a 12-hour day minimum, but regularly worked 16-hour days.

10) If the Internet had not existed – what do you think you would be doing?

Playing in a band, making music and taking pictures.

11) What do you like best about the Internet?

Freedom, anonymity and access to a huge array of information.
 
12) What do you like least about the Internet?

Liars, crooks, thieves, dishonest people, squatters, spammers, phishers, anonymity, unintelligible arguing and copycats.