Splash LA May 2013 Finalist - Skit!

Kristin Karaoglu · July 22, 2013 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/30c5

Check out Skit!'s presentation at Splash LA

With Splash LA May 2013 finalist Skit! app, anyone can use their latest photos, Facebook friends, or quick drawings to tell an impressive, animated story. It’s even easy to add your own voice, or to pick a soundtrack. Share with your friends, or publish for the entire world to see: Skits are remixable, continuable, and tons of fun!  Here's a video of Robin Johnson presenting at Vator Splash LA.

Among the judges were Ethan Applen (Warner Bros' Media Camp List), David Carter (Amplify.LA), Noah Doyle (Javelin Venture Partners), Neal Hansch (Rustic Canyon Partners), Paul Lee (Lightbank), Peter Lee (Baroda Ventures), Michael Montgomery (Montgomery & Co.), Matthew Mazzeo (Lowercase Capital), Tom McGovern (Idealab), Dave Fink (Science), Erik Rannala (MuckerLab), Heidi Roizen (DFJ), Rick Smith (Crosscut Ventures), David Travers (Rustic Canyon Partners), Pete Vlastelica (Fox Sports Digital), Sharon Wienbar (ScaleVP), Michelle Wroan (KPMG), Martin J. Waters (Wilson Sonsini).

Even though success is not defined by how much money a company has raised, past Vator winners, such as ThumbtackGetableGrovo, Astrid, Udemy, and Geeklist have gone on to raise millions of dollars collectively from venerable VCs, soon after presenting.

Here's some other testimonials: 

"The Vator community and its Splash event provided the perfect launch pad to generate exposure for our company. Winning Vator Splash 2013 SF gave us the exposure, quality venture capital meetings and network effect every startup needs to initiate and complete a successful round. The very next quarter, we raised a $4M Series A. Thanks Vator!" said Lisa Maki, CEO of PokitDok.

"The process of inviting everyone one we knew to vote for us, even before the event, was a fantastic way to build support for our company. Then presenting at Vator Splash was a blast. The short presentation style ensured the audience was engaged and the follow-up questions from the judges were on-point and constructive. At Vator Splash, I made great connections with a number of investors and had a number of follow-up meetings. We were able to raise our last round entirely from investors who discovered us from the publicity we generated from Vator Splash," said Jon Paris, CEO and founder of Astrid.

"Working with Vator, and Bambi, is a pleasure. She's really passionate about uniting great ideas with the right people. We actually tied for first in last years Vator Splash SF and as a direct result raised $150,000 from an investor who saw us pitch. TEEC Angels approached us right at the event and invested soon thereafter. Reuben Katz, CEO and founder of Geeklist.

"Vator has acted as a launchpad for my startup in terms of awareness and exposure. As a winner of a Vator competition, my startup enjoyed early traction and buzz. Vator has kept my business relevant in the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and potential employees. I've made many invaluable connections to the investor and entrepreneur community." Tim Hyer, founder and CEO, Getable

"DogVacay.com won Vator Splash LA in June 2012. The competition allowed us an opportunity to meet and pitch against some of the great Los Angeles startups and further foster our entrepreneurial community. There was such a positive energy with so many great minds providing insightful feedback throughout the night. Two paws up, Vator!"  Aaron Hirschhorn, founder & Top Dog, Dog Vacay 

"Events like Vator Splash are critical for startups to generate awareness. We were a top 10 finalist for Splash LA. It provided us with an amazing opportunity to network and gain exposure to a whole community of investors and VCs. Soon after, we raised $3M as a result of the momentum/exposure from the event and the platform in general," Peter Vogel, founder and CEO, Plink.

Join the Splash competition here.

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Kristin Karaoglu

Woman of many skills: Database System Engineer; SplashX event producer; Author of Startup Teams

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SKIT!

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

TechStars Demo Day video

TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 article

 Problem:

Everyone finds mobile/tablet ads extremely annoying.  The heat map studies prove that.  Ad prices on mobile/tablet is a fraction of that on PC.  As mobile usage overtakes PC usage, online ad industry may have only a few quarters to search for innovative ways to engage users before revenue growth slows significantly.

Solution:
Mobile/tablet ads has not been and will not be the right format.  We believe product placement in compelling and viral user-generated animated story will become the holy grail mobile ad industry is searching for.  We see the eyes of ad sales and media executives light up with excitement and possibilities when they see our product demo in action.

Product:
With our Skit! app and cloud platform, anyone can use their latest photos, Facebook friends, or quick drawings to tell an impressive, animated story.  Drag and drop background and characters, add stunning effects, animate by dragging characters, and add your own voice or soundtrack.

Then, share with your friends via email or Facebook, or publish to YouTube directly!

Not feeling creative? Just browse through user-generated videos, and if you like a video, you don't have to start from scratch, you can just remix a story or continue a story, like magic.

Tell a story, make a birthday / Xmas animated card, create a company product intro video, create a viral funny animated ad, or role-play action figures.  Your imagination is the limit.   Skit! app and cloud platform turn your iPad into your personal South Park or Pixar studio.

Team:
Robin Johnson, co-founder/CEO, previously at Electronics Art (Medal of Honors) and Trilogy Studios (Kung Fu Panda World).

Max Woon, co-founder, previously co-founder of Xfire (acquired by Viacom/MTV for $102m in 2006).

Accelerator:
TechStars

Advisor:
Micah Baldwin, CEO, Graphicly

 


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Robin Johnson

Joined Vator on

Founder/CEO of Skit! (Storytime Studios, Inc) • Worked at @Electronic Arts, @Digital Domain, @Sony Imageworks • Studied at @University of Massachusetts, Amherst: BFA-Animation and BS-Computer Science.