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Who Is Philipp Baumgaertel?
Philipp Baumgaertel is the founder of Cherrydeck, an online platform for creatives based out of Hamburg, Germany. With over ten years experience in business development, Philipp has built a network across Europe and the U.S. through his passion for marketing, sales, and working with people.
Finding the Best Creative Talent
Philipp is making the process for creative professionals to be discovered much easier with Cherrydeck. While acting as the Interim CEO for Lightboys, Philipp had a difficult time finding photographers for different projects all over the world. He recalls the platforms available to him at the time being hard to navigate, too country-specific, and not ripe with high-quality talent. Cherrydeck solves this problem by providing a single platform that features a database of over 55,000 photographers, videographers, and models worldwide. Its mission is to help brands find the best creative talent for their projects.
A Transatlantic Entrepreneur
Born in Germany, but also raised in the U.S., Philipp was influenced by both European and American culture of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. His father was a trauma surgeon from rural Ohio and his mother was a psychotherapist who grew up in a classic German household. She had a rebellious spirit that Philipp says he inherited, which sometimes got him into trouble. After also living in Switzerland and studying in Austria, Philipp eventually cofounded an online platform for ride sharing within the outdoor sports community.
Collecting years of experience in business development and mentorship provided Philipp with the perfect opportunity to launch Cherrydeck. Once he talked his startup idea over with old clients and partners, he drew up the concept and successfully pitched it to investors. With Cherrydeck, Philipp wanted to ensure there was a platform with a structured search and several filters that provided quality and visual results across the globe. “The visual part was really important for me, as when it comes to creative work, that’s a main factor in the booking process,” says Philipp.
Branded Stock on Cherrydeck
Though his startup is up and running now, Philipp says there were many roadblocks along the way. Mainly, finding the right product and market fit. A common problem for most startups is having to adapt concepts “incrementally or radically” in order to find what sells to clients. This is not as easy as it looks from the outside and can often spell doom for new entrepreneurs. Fortunately, Philipp found what works and largely attributes this to the people around him. “I’m lucky to have a core team of very good people who are loyal and committed and just have great personalities.”
Today, Philipp is excited to launch Cherrydeck’s Branded Stock service. Just like in a private content marketplace, businesses can buy brand-specific content from different creative professionals. However, they will have an exclusive stock library full of custom content independently produced by Cherrydeck. Many creatives on the platform are already producing content for several brands and are building a steady revenue stream without needing to put in additional work. This innovative service is managed by Cherrydeck and promises to change the way content production works.
What Keeps Him Up at Night?
“My kid, my business, and a good party.”
What Is Philipp’s GREY Style?
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
