MarTech Interview with Analisa Goodin, Chief Executive Officer at Catch+Release

Analisa, could you kindly share a brief overview of your journey to the role of CEO at Catch+Release?

I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey not with the primary goal of starting a company but by recognizing and addressing a significant problem. That is how brands discover and safely license visual content for all types of downstream usages and campaigns. In the early stages, I immersed myself in solving this problem for customers and gradually built a team as market demand grew. However, as the team expanded to around 20 people, I realized that focusing solely on customer problem-solving was no longer sufficient. This marked my transition from urgently addressing a customer problem to intentionally constructing a company to address the broader market pain.

This realization led me to embrace the CEO role, overcoming initial self-consciousness about adopting the title. I embraced the associated responsibilities, ensuring financial stability, strategically recruiting team members with the right expertise, and providing developmental paths aligned with company goals. My focus expanded to setting strategic directions for the company, and as I progressed, my perspective broadened beyond immediate customer needs to encompass how we address a larger market segment. Recognizing the potential to build infrastructure for a previously nonexistent industry, I shifted from being a domain expert to a leader making tough decisions, hiring those more knowledgeable, securing funding, and actively contributing to the organization’s growth. This turning point shaped my understanding of leadership and the broader impact of my entrepreneurial journey.

How does Catch+Release skillfully navigate the complexities of digital content licensing, fostering a mutually beneficial environment for creators and businesses?

In the early stages of addressing the issue, I personally managed licenses for about 10,000 pieces of content before any code was written. The intricate process involved obtaining consent, managing payments, navigating multiple clearance levels, and understanding the legal needs of buyers, coupled with empathy for creators relinquishing their rights. My journey toward the now fully automated tech solution began with years of manual navigation, leading to the development of a foolproof process based on that expertise. We initially executed everything manually, gradually introducing automation and refining the platform’s efficiency.

Our marketplace platform provides a comprehensive set of tools for marketing and creative users to seamlessly navigate the content licensing process, offering opportunities for future content licenses. This tooling covers buyer intent, content ownership verification, understanding intellectual property layers, and predicting the likelihood of successful licensing through our Licensebility estimate, which is algorithmically determined based on specific criteria. In lay-person speak, that means, “What is the likelihood of me acquiring this license in the timeframe I need.” The entire process, from verifying ownership to managing intellectual property layers, extending offers, making payments, handling paperwork and signatures, and conducting identity checks, unfolds securely within the Catch+Release platform. Emphasizing our mission to license the internet, we aim to connect, protect, and celebrate creators and storytellers, ensuring they feel valued, protected, and fairly compensated for their contributions. These principles shape our marketplace and define the core ethos of our company.

We’re eager to learn how Catch+Release addresses challenges and capitalises on opportunities in the realm of user-generated content.

In the realm of User-Generated Content (UGC), the challenges of relevance and safety are paramount. Brand safety, as I perceive it, extends beyond avoiding content that could jeopardize a brand; it involves a holistic approach, considering legal use, proper licensing, and potential legal repercussions. Thus, the challenges in the UGC market revolve around sourcing relevant content aligning with the brand narrative while ensuring its legal use.

Catch+Release addresses these challenges by catering to the need for discovering and licensing content that supports the desired brand story. UGC has evolved significantly, featuring diverse content creators capturing extraordinary stories. Catch+Release actively tackles challenges in UGC concerning discovery, relevance, safety, and licensing. Our platform incorporates search and discover features tailored to the mindset of storytellers, emphasizing sentiments over literal terms. We prioritize a safe licensing experience, boasting the fastest and safest method to license content from the internet through our advanced platform engine that I previously described.

How has Catch+Release adapted to the rapid transformation in the Creator Economy, and what trends do you foresee shaping the industry?

Catch+Release has redefined the creator economy by expanding its scope beyond conventional definitions. Our perspective encompasses anyone with powerful camera technology contributing valuable content to online communities, not just those seeking monetization. We’ve developed a platform that meets creators where they are, eliminating the need for extensive efforts. This inclusive approach considers anyone on the internet who captures meaningful content, compensating them through licensing agreements without altering their existing behavior.

We aim to simplify the compensation process for creators, acknowledging their investment in the right equipment and authentic content creation. We observe a trend towards authenticity, shifting from large productions to niche influencers and individual creators. Defining the creator economy as the world’s supply of creative content, we focus on building infrastructure tools to enhance liquidity in this creative supply chain and facilitate positive experiences for creators participating in any sort of promotion campaigns, such as paid ads, that ultimately fosters g stronger relationships with brands that resonate with their audiences and communities.

Could you share insights into how AI enhances content creation and licensing at Catch+Release, and what potential collaborations you envision between AI and creators?

At Catch+Release, we’re revolutionizing how creative and marketing teams curate, license, and utilize existing creator content to weave compelling, authentic, and human brand stories. Our keen interest lies in leveraging artificial intelligence innovations to locate, categorize, analyze, and identify human creators posting new content across an ever-expanding creator universe. With many creators not identifying as professionals, AI aids content curators in discovering hidden gems beyond their manual reach. Currently, we harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance search capabilities within our Creator Community, a thriving hub of human creativity.

While AI holds exciting possibilities for content curation, we approach its current limitations in content creation with caution. While AI may spark human creativity, we value the genuine human touch behind the ideas. The true value lies in the humanity behind creativity, anticipating a future where AI, wielded by amazing humans, propels creativity to new heights. At Catch+Release, we’re committed to upholding creator rights and authenticity. As AI evolves, we integrate it ethically, ensuring it supports and amplifies human creativity rather than replacing it. Our dedication is to foster a future where technology and human ingenuity coexist harmoniously in an ever-expanding content universe.

As a respected leader, what personal strategies or principles guide your decision-making process at Catch+Release?

Establishing trust within my team is paramount, particularly when navigating uncharted territory and making informed decisions with limited and imperfect data. Working on groundbreaking initiatives often means operating on the bleeding edge of knowledge, where some aspects are largely unknowable. While perfection in decision-making is elusive, ensuring access to the best available data requires trust from the team. Creating an environment where team members feel free to express diverse perspectives, even in disagreement, allows for more well-rounded and informed decisions.

Beyond its role in decision-making, trust contributes to a positive workplace culture. A trusting environment, where team members feel valued and have opportunities for open dialogue, fosters collaboration, creativity, and curiosity. Trust is not just a critical factor in decision-making but also a catalyst for creating a thriving and collaborative workplace culture. Without trust, the fear of criticism or the lack of space for open dialogue hinders the gathering of valuable perspectives, risking isolation and impeding the overall success of the company.

If you don’t mind sharing, what advice would you offer to professionals navigating content licensing, user-generated content, and the Creator Economy?

Authenticity plays a crucial role in the discovery and licensing of content, extending beyond the content itself to capture genuine moments and real experiences. It is essential that authenticity permeates the entire process of engaging with creators, establishing connections, offering compensation, and securing licenses. The relationship between a creator and a buyer relies on a level of trust that should not be underestimated, emphasizing the importance of treating creators with respect and recognizing their content as more than just a commodity.

One poignant experience highlighted the significance of approaching content creators with sensitivity and empathy. While working on a project for a healthcare client, we discovered that a video featuring a girl holding a teddy bear in a hospital was created by the mother of a child who had tragically passed away from leukemia. This incident underscored the need to navigate these connections responsibly and with a deep understanding of the human stories behind the content. The values of connect, protect, and celebrate are ingrained in our product and company, emphasizing the human aspect behind the content and showcasing instances where licensing has positively impacted creators’ lives. Recognizing the humanity behind the content is not just the morally right thing to do; it’s also a practical approach that leads to faster responses, and meeting budget and timeline goals, benefiting everyone involved in the licensing process.

How does Catch+Release balance the adoption of new technologies with ethical considerations in content licensing and creation?

We adhere to our core principles of connecting, protecting, and celebrating. We aim to establish connections between storytellers and content that holds significance for them, contributing to a greater narrative. In this pursuit, safeguarding the entire process and transaction becomes imperative. This involves protecting not only the storyteller but also the creator at every stage within Catch+Release—whether in product development, engineering, clearance, licensing, or curation. Each team member is tasked with fostering connection, ensuring protection, and promoting celebration within their respective roles.

The emphasis on celebration is rooted in our ethical standpoint. It’s about acknowledging individuals who may not identify as creators or artists but have indeed produced valuable content. We believe in approaching them and affirming that their perspective matters, and that the content they’ve created, whether in the form of a video or a photo, holds professional merit. This ethical stance involves treating them as artists, regardless of whether they personally acknowledge such skills. Celebrating what they’ve created and recognizing the significance of the storyteller’s contributions is not just a practice for us; it’s a moral imperative. It’s about instilling a sense of professionalism and value in those who may not traditionally identify as artists, making it an ethical responsibility to celebrate and honor their creations.

Can you share key challenges encountered and innovative solutions implemented by Catch+Release in the dynamic content landscape?

Certainly, building a company is always accompanied by its set of challenges. In 2023, we faced the unique backdrop of navigating a challenging economic climate, especially as the stock market experienced a crash in Q1. Despite the unfavorable fundraising environment that year, we successfully managed to raise funds. The reality of startup building is that challenges are constant, requiring teamwork, a culture built on transparency and trust, and an unwavering belief that what we’re building holds enough significance to overcome obstacles.

The journey of being original is inherently difficult—there’s no pre-established map or prototype to follow. It involves venturing into uncharted territory, and that, by default, is a challenging position. Despite these hurdles, the key is envisioning the future and contemplating how the world will look once we’ve brought our vision to life. That perspective is what makes the challenges worthwhile.

Finally, we’d be sincerely grateful for your thoughts on the future of content licensing, the Creator Economy, and the evolving relationship between AI and creators.

At Catch+Release, we lead the transformation of how creative and marketing teams curate, license, and leverage existing creator content for impactful brand narratives. Actively exploring AI innovations, we seek to seamlessly locate, categorize, and analyze human creators across the expanding content universe, empowering content curators within our vibrant Creator Community.

While acknowledging AI’s potential in content curation, we remain cautious about its current limitations in content creation, emphasizing our focus on the human essence behind ideas. Looking forward, we anticipate AI being harnessed by individuals to elevate creativity. Committed to upholding creator rights and preserving authenticity, we navigate AI’s evolution with ethical dedication, ensuring it supports human creativity. Our vision is to foster a future where technology and human ingenuity harmoniously coexist, positioning us at the forefront of the Creator Economy and shaping a collaborative landscape for the future of content licensing.

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