MEET THE YOUNG FOUNDER TRYING TO STEAL THE SHOW

MEET THE YOUNG FOUNDER TRYING TO STEAL THE SHOW

AT only 22 years old, Brandon Evertz is the youngest founder of an Australian company listed on the ASX.

The chief operating officer of Big Un Limited (ASX: BIG) started his video production business going door to door, and within four weeks, turned a $1000 investment into $8000.

Sydney-based Evertz is just like anyone else of the Snapchat generation. Video killing the radio star might be just a phrase, and a little before his time, but that doesn't mean he takes its existence lightly.

"The future of internet is video and that's where absolutely everything is heading to," says Evertz.

"By 2018, at least 70 per cent of the internet traffic will be video content. We are literally a video version of TripAdvisor or Yelp. We don't really even allow text on the site.

"I did about six months research before starting up and thought, there has to be a site you can go to where you can see videos for businesses. I'm not a big reader, and didn't just want to be looking at pictures. I couldn't find anything that slightly resembled this model."

Big Un Limited listed on the ASX through a reverse takeover of gold explorer Republic Gold on New Years Eve, 2014. The young founder raised over $3 million through an oversubscribed IPO.

At Big Un Limited's peak in November last year, the company traded at around 28c. However, it has essentially been tumbling since, now trading around 11c, still surrounded by talk of overvaluation based on its balance sheet.

The business just posted a net loss before income tax of $7.8 million at the end of the most recent financial year, 68 per cent higher than its loss last year.

There's two elements to his website Big Review TV. The business either sends out a film crew and produces a video review about a customer, or charges the customer to do that for it to then be hosted on the Big Review TV platform.

Evertz points to the fast-growing sales revenue of Big Un Limited as an indicator for momentum to come. This figure was recently up 257 per cent to $2.36 million.

Head count also ballooned from 16 to 95, the vast majority of staff in sales capacities.

"We are growing at 50 per cent quarter on quarter, pretty unheard of in any sort of space at the moment. There's a massive demand for the product. For the sixth consecutive quarter we have grown 50 per cent," says Evertz.

"If you are a small or large business, if you don't invest in video content, you will be de-prioritised by search engines. You have to have video no matter who you are.

"Our biggest challenge is growing too quickly. We have been trying to keep a lid on growth to a certain extent. It has been hard finding good staff too because our startup model is very compelling so a lot of people want to be part of it. There's been a shift probably since the start of this year and now staff are just coming to us."

Evertz says 'competition isn't an issue' because Big Un Limited is spreading rapidly, not just in Australia, but also in San Francisco, New York, London, Vancouver, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

He says Big Un Limited is the most cost-effective and high-quality provider in the market, to his knowledge. More expensive than Snapchat, but better quality than your iPhone.

A two-minute video with licensed music filmed on-set costs anywhere between $10,000 to $15,000 traditionally, with some of the quotes Evertz has come across exceeding $150,000.

"So I found a gap for SMEs needing high-quality video content for a fraction of the cost and started building," he says.

"We have 18,000 businesses on board now. By the end of this year, we want to have 30,000.

"We are now at the beginning of the golden age of video content, everything is heading there, and those grasping that now will have successful businesses in the future."
 

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