Meet Dan Gable, founder of ShoutOut
I am Dan Gable, the founder of ShoutOut. I worked in TV for over 30 years on some great shows including Big Brother, Top Gear and The Word and I was nominated for a BAFTA 10 years ago. I am also the founder of Sprat, a video production company.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
ShoutOut enables you to produce videos completely automatically on a smartphone. You build your branding template, send out a link to record your video clips and, in seconds, a final video is produced, with titles, music, graphic overlays and a name caption. It’s super cool. Around 3 years ago I was filming some testimonial videos in Amsterdam and it struck me that people give the best testimonials after the camera stops rolling and I thought, why can’t we just automate the process so anyone can produce a video at any time, without a crew, lights and cameras? Two years of development later and ShoutOut was born.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
I was lucky enough to be working in TV when it transitioned from videotape to editing on computers. I co-owned a post-production company that pioneered editing on computers for TV. We did all the editing for Big Brother and other reality shows that had a very complex workflow. I think the team and I have a great combination of in-depth video workflow knowledge, storytelling skills and software development skills. We all have an absolute passion for making ShoutOut as simple as possible to use.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
I have started other companies before, so I know how hard it is. Starting a company is like pushing a boulder uphill. Hard, relentless and, if you stop pushing, you just slide backwards. When you get to the top there is a brief moment of rest and the boulder starts rolling down the other side. Then, you are fighting to keep up with it while frantically trying to find people to help you stop it getting out of control. Then you hit another hill and have to start the climb again. I think that’s the best analogy for running a business.
With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?
Our aim is to make high-quality video available to everyone. ShoutOut is a completely disruptive approach for creating many types of video automatically, testimonial, event, sales, product videos, vlogging. Anyone who wants to produce videos could benefit from it with varying levels meaning it is highly accessible, particularly for businesses that may just be starting out. Businesses can also try it out for free first on a trial basis to make sure it’s the right fit for them before committing.
What are your thoughts on failure?
Work in progress for me. I struggle with it because I hate it. I allow myself to fail a lot more now than I used to though, it’s really unhealthy to always succeed. I really believe we can achieve pretty much anything we set out to do but it always comes with a price. Health, relationships, you know the important stuff. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, is never dropping the ball really worth it?
Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?
Wife, dog, Hampstead Heath. We are lucky enough to live in Hampstead in London close to the Heath and our early morning walk is the best thing ever. It’s a fantastic time to get my head straight for the day. I don’t know why but I have all my best ideas while walking.
How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?
I have a small video production agency called Sprat and we make fantastic videos for fantastic clients. In any agency, you are only as good as your clients! Fortunately, that has been able to fund ShoutOut. My mantra is creativity is a function of constraint and I think financial constraint breeds real creativity. The best things come out of tight budgets and there are always deals to be done. Pay the people you owe and your taxes quickly, then get creative with the rest.
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
Honestly, I am not sure that anyone conquers those moments of doubt. The best thing is to become accountable to customers, staff, suppliers and of course your business. Legally, businesses are the closest thing to a human. If I bring a business into the world, I have a duty to look after it and give it the best opportunities to survive and thrive. Being accountable to your business means, you don’t have the luxury of self-doubt.
How do you believe the evolution of tech will affect your industry over the next 10 years?
I think the video space will become more automated and self-serve. We have big plans to further our automation capabilities and we are constantly working on it. Nowadays, all of us have our own media network at our disposal with potently millions of eyeballs. However, we are not there yet with storytelling and engagement. That’s the opportunity for innovation, facilitating video story telling.
Is word of mouth working to your advantage?
I think word of mouth is the second-best form of marketing but only if you have a really great product or service. For word of mouth to really work your product needs to be really good, so having a great product or service is the absolute best form of marketing. Yes, word of mouth is working for us for sure.
Dan Gable founder and CEO of ShoutOut
Dan Gable is the founder of ShoutOut, the ground-breaking automated video creation and distribution platform. ShoutOut enables you to create branded videos and distribute them to your social media channels in just one click.
Over the last 35 years, Dan has worked on hundreds of TV programmes including pioneering shows such as The Word, The Brit Awards, Big Brother and Top Gear.
He has shot and directed many corporate and music videos and has been on the board of various media companies including Air Studios and Co-Founder of Resolution, who pioneered nonlinear editing in TV production and, at its peak, had over 100 edit suites in London. Dan is also a qualified Master NLP Practitioner, Hypnotherapist and Counsellor and is a well-known figure in the television industry – being nominated for a BAFTA in 2002.
Dan brings his filmmaking, production workflow and business experience to ShoutOut and is passionate about making quality video available to everyone
