I’ve never used Cameo but people have shown me videos they’ve received, and I always thought it was a cool service. I wanted to learn more about it, so I asked CEO Steve Galanis how it began. 

“My Uncle George is a pretty big movie producer in Hollywood. He did Rambo Raconan, Lone Survivor, et cetera,” said Galanis. So, because he was doing movies. I had the opportunity to co-invest in some projects that he did. Going through that, I met this guy, Martin Blencowe, who became my co-founder at Cameo.  

“Martin had, had this idea that basically if he became an NFL agent and he signed a big defensive end with a big personality and a cool look. Maybe he could back door into signing the next Rock or Jason Momoa. So the player he signed was a guy named Cassius Marsh. Cassius was a, you know, 4th round draft pick out of UCLA, backup defensive end from the Seattle Seahawks. 

“And as you know, if you’re not a starter in the NFL, there are no endorsement dollars that kind of come to you. And right around this time, the documentary Broke came out on ESPN, where they said that 85% of NFL players go broke 5 years after playing their last down. And, you know, Martin was an athlete at USC, and I was an athlete at Duke. We had a lot of friends who had one national championship, and then a few years later, they’re, you know, texting us for money. And this was just a problem that was very personal to us. And Martin was explaining how big a personality Cassius was, and he pulled out his phone. And he showed me a video we today called the first cameo. And in it, Cassius was congratulating this guy on becoming a dad who was a big Seahawks fan.” 

Sometimes a great idea takes a few minutes to percolate.  

“Martin showed me this video and right away, the Eureka moment head,” Galanis said. “I was like, ‘That’s the new autograph.’ We should sell those.” 

Cameo chases potential suitors, and NFL quarterback Russell Wilson is one of them.  

“Russell Wilson is someone we’ve been messaging for 9 years. We finally got in front of him this year, and he had never heard of Cameo. After he joined, he was like, hey, is this just for athletes, or could Ciara (his wife, a famous celebrity in her own right)  join as well? 

If you’re gift-giving, Steve has some advice.

“When you’re browsing the shelves, it’s not just about getting the happy birthday card. It’s like finding the right card that that person loves.” 

Learn more about Cameo here.