Enjoying the Journey

The founders of SmugMug (my brother and my father) have always had good business sense. Creating a Web-based business is a risky venture, but they kept true to a few principles and it is working out incredibly well. Since SmugMug took no outside investment and is a subscription-based service rather than an ad-based service like so many of our competitors, one important decision was to maintain organic growth.

While most Websites were out looking to get as many users as possible as quickly as possible, SmugMug focused on growing at a natural and sustainable rate. That meant being profitable every year, maintaining fantastic customer support, and not just shooting for the typical definition of Web success: getting bought out by Google.

That often meant that we were overlooked by the press and didn’t garner as much attention from bloggers and journalistic Websites as some of our competitors. That is beginning to change as they are starting to take notice of a photo-sharing Website that is prospering in a world normally dominated by “free” sites.

From Businessweek (1 and 2) to the LATimes, CNET to TechCrunch, USA Today to Entrepeneur.com, SmugMug is finally getting some notice.

Last night I attended an award show put on by TechCrunch called the Crunchies. SmugMug took home the prize for best Web design and the hilarious monkey trophy pictured below:

For those of you interested, the idea was based on 2001: A Space Odyssey:

While it certainly felt great winning the award, it’s a bit tough to accept it because we have a very, very long way to go until we are happy with the design of the site. We’re pretty optimistic about the future though. What a great place to work!

WordPress, by the way, deservedly took away two awards.