Nick Longo, director of Geekdom with Scott Taylor of Soloshot and winner of the 2013 Innotech San Antonio Beta Summit
“The first motion picture camera was invented over 125 years ago,” said Scott Taylor, co-founder of Soloshot. “And since then there have been tremendous improvements in camera technology from color film to video cameras, to digital cameras, to cameras that are built into your cell phone.”
But one thing hasn’t changed in all those years, to film a moving subject, you’ve always needed a human to operate the camera and keep it pointed toward the subject, Taylor said at the seventh annual Innotech Beta Summit.
“And that’s a problem,” he said. “Especially when it comes to filming sports, no one ever wants to be the guy on the sidelines holding the camera. That was the problem we set out to solve, and what resulted is Soloshot, a tripod system that automatically keeps your camera pointed at you.”
Soloshot won a one-year membership in the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and a plaque. The San Antonio-based startup also won a trophy from Geekdom. Both the chamber and Geekdom sponsored the Beta Summit and the audience chose the winner through a heads down, hands up vote at the conclusion of the six pitches.
Nick Longo, director of Geekdom and the event’s moderator, told the crowd to consider what problem the startups were solving and who their customers were and how they are going to market and sell their product to customers.
Soloshot began manufacturing and shipping its $479 tripod system that works using a radio frequency communication system with an armband last June. Since then, Soloshot has quadrupled its manufacturing facilities in San Antonio and ramped up its production ten times, Taylor said. Its customers are amateur and pro athletes, videographers and parents.
So far, Soloshot has shipped to customers in 30 countries and its device is sold in stores in 18 countries. It’s continually growing its distribution and retail network, Taylor said.
The company has done a lot of marketing through social media to spread the word about its product, Taylor said. Its Facebook page has received 60,000 likes. People have viewed its Youtube video channel more than 1 million times.
To date, Soloshot has more than 30 patents and trademarks.
“You only get one shot,” Taylor said. “Capture them with Soloshot.”
The other San Antonio startups pitching at the event included SocialRest, Sportybird, Kirpeep, Greenhouse and the Amazing Jellybean.
Jennifer Navarrete with the Media Fuse captured the event on Livestream video. The embedded version is posted below.
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