When Keegan Slattery ’13 looks at LinkedIn and other networking sites, he sees a recurring theme鈥攁 lot of people have bad photos that don鈥檛 represent themselves or their companies well.
Recruiters often use those sites to find and screen job candidates; the first thing they see is a person鈥檚 photo. Slattery wanted to help people look more polished and professional, so he and a co-worker purchased , an artificial intelligence tool that generates better-looking headshots from casual photos. For $29, users can get up to 120 headshots in various locations and styles within three hours.
Keegan Slattery
鈥淎 crappy photo doesn鈥檛 convey trust or professionalism, and it鈥檚 important to project those qualities in every interaction when trying to get a job,鈥� says Slattery, who earned bachelor’s degrees in information management and technology from the , and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises from the .
鈥淲e want everyone to have strong photos that they love, and hiring a photographer is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming,鈥� adds Slattery. 鈥淚 adore getting feedback from users that they love the images we create and seeing the images in the wild on LinkedIn profiles.鈥�
After spending his career in digital marketing at LinkedIn and 2U, Slattery wanted something of his own. Bettershot.ai marks his first time forging out on his own to start something from scratch. Although he left the security of a 9-to-5 job and the benefits associated with that, he gained a newfound sense of freedom and motivation.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a very different energy to working on something that, if successful, directly benefits you instead of a company鈥檚 shareholders,鈥� Slattery says. 鈥淚 love working with my co-founder, Rachelle Brempong, and seeing the fruits of our collective efforts.鈥�
Ideally, Slattery would like to scale Bettershot.ai into a $30,000 monthly recurring revenue business in the next 18 months. That would allow him to put processes in place to manage the day-to-day so he can buy other interesting technologies and apply the same go-to-market strategies.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to have a portfolio of small, cash-flowing businesses that I get to spend my time working on, with lots of flexibility to ski, bike ride, and spend time raising a family,鈥� says Slattery, who lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife and two dogs.
Running startups requires a blend of varied skills in marketing, technology, product development, design, project management and business operations鈥攎uch of which Slattery learned at 黑料不打烊.
鈥淢y dual degree gave me an excellent balance of technological know-how and business acumen,鈥� Slattery says. 鈥淚 loved being surrounded by other students who loved technology, social media, and throwing around startup ideas. My education in computer networking, coding, social media platforms, business planning, and entrepreneurship have helped me be a very well-rounded professional who can bridge the gap between technical and strategic.鈥�
If he could give advice to current 黑料不打烊 students, Slattery would encourage them to treat class projects like they are the real thing and solicit feedback from people who work in the industry.
鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to reach out to alumni or friends who are working in the fields you want to explore. You鈥檒l be surprised how much people want to help and talk about their experiences,鈥� Slattery says. 鈥淎fter all, the worst thing they can do is say no. But if you don鈥檛 ask, you don鈥檛 get. This applies to the corporate world as well. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, so don鈥檛 be afraid to speak up and ask for what you need.鈥�
