In Episode 5 Jaime shares how the need to take a risk by putting herself out there – got her to lever her networks to help her to open doors! As she says, you never know what’s possible unless you ask!
To start, it’s not just about the shiny new product or the innovative services you created. It’s also about getting out to pitch your story to your networks to help you uncover new opportunities! One contact in your network may eventually lead to another who can open doors previously inaccessible to you, or open new ones! Check out Jaime’s story of how she got from Calgary… to pitch in Vancouver… which led her to the UK Trade Commission and then to the UK sports clubs. As well she got a hand up from a Calgary based Venture Capital (yes in her home town) with a lead to pitch her story to a sports club in the UK! So what happened? They had the opportunity of doing a test bed of their technology with this UK sports club, and ended up making this as their UK home base – and a way to launch into Europe! All for their love of Sports Fans!
Founder’s Blog
As I mentioned, it’s not an easy business and you don’t just walk on in. Well, one can try… 🙂 But seriously, for us it is all about networking. Defining the ideal customer profile and being relentless in finding them through 1-2 degrees of separation. And some of it is pure serendipity.
For our beta event in Germany, our photographer at the time was able to connect us with the German Hockey Federation and so we seized the connection to create an opportunity.
Likewise for the work we are currently doing in the UK with an EPL club. I pitched at an event in Vancouver and through that I met a contact from the UK department for International Trade who introduced me to an event falling on the heels of London Tech week. Again, I seized the connection to create an opportunity. You have to do the work but having the right people backing you at the right time is what it’s all about.
About Jaime Wood
Co-Founder & COO
Jaime is a start-up founder and business strategist. Her passion for connecting people and bringing new ideas to life continues to shape her career. Jaime has held leadership and Director roles for marketing agencies and clients worldwide. Jaime’s strength is in leading client engagements and driving team delivery and success. Prior to co-founding Fanoramas, Jaime served on the Executive Leadership team as Director Business Strategy for digital agency Evans Hunt Group Inc, a strategic digital marketing agency serving some of Canada’s largest organizations. Jaime was the Global Digital Manager for ROLEX S.A. Stationed in Geneva where she managed the worldwide multidisciplinary team and spearheaded the global online strategy. Jaime has managed project budgets of over $25 Million. She holds a Masters Degree in Communications and a Bachelors degree in Science, Technology and Society. Jaime has published two peer reviewed articles, as a co-author, on innovation clusters in Canada with the Innovation Systems Research Network. During the pandemic she helped create a curriculum on the culture of innovation with the new school of Advanced Digital Technology at SAIT.
About Fanoramas
Fanoramas is a fan-focused social advertising platform that sits at the nexus of the fan social, mobile and event experience. Fanoramas takes photos of every fan, simultaneously, during epic moments of the big event bringing fan photography to the next level offering every fan 100’s of personal photos in real-time on a branded platform. Fanoramas is for fans who want to share and relive their event experience. It’s for teams that want to open up new revenue streams in venue beyond TV and billboard display and it’s for sponsors interested in providing immersive experiences and getting to know the fans in the stands. Fanoramas is a startup company based in Calgary, Canada.
