Peter A. Agelasto IV of Starchive Tells Us How He is Disrupting Expensive Digital Asset Management from the Comfort of His Home

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Peter A. Agelasto IV: We have been very fortunate to be healthy and working from home from beautiful rural Virginia at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Starchive

Peter A. Agelasto IV: OMG, where to begin… I am the founder. When I graduated from college in 1996 with a degree in Archaeology, I was drawn to the web in the late 1990s. I founded Starchive to solve the problem of “I can’t find any of the files I’m looking for.”

How does Starchive innovate? 

Peter A. Agelasto IV: We started our company because we had the pain and couldn’t find a solution. Officially “Bob Dylan” was/is our first customer, and we’ve been growing ever since. One of our clients is ESSENCE magazine. When Essence Fest was canceled due to COVID, we were able to run video celebrity detection on 1000s of hours of video in their Starchive so that they could virtualize Essence Fest on quick notice. 

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Peter A. Agelasto IV: Well… we’re now having to fundraise from our living rooms. Fortunately, we have a great SaaS application that anyone in the world can try for free for 30-days with no credit card required.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Peter A. Agelasto IV: By comparison, our choices haven’t been difficult, they’ve seemed obvious during the moment, and we make them and own them. I have learned that we are hungry for authenticity and truth in our relationships with brands, products, and customers.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? How do you project yourself and Starchive in the future?

Peter A. Agelasto IV: I eat well and spending time in a huge garden. My wife is a yoga teacher and helps keep me centered. 

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Peter A. Agelasto IV: Dropbox, Google Drive are competitors, but so are Webdam, Bynder, Brandfolder, and other Digital Asset Management Systems. We are 1/20 the cost of expensive DAMS with the same or better functionality. We’re counting on your interview to introduce us to customers who are willing to give Starchive a 30 day Free Trial – haha!

Your final thoughts

Peter A. Agelasto IV: I’m an independent thinker who likes interviews and has a sense of humor and a deep appreciation for how hard it is to launch a product from your vision and imagination. Lastly, — how are you doing? I have all of the same questions for you and startup.info. Would you be willing to sign up for a free Starchive? I can only imagine how much content you’re managing, and please, please, please don’t tell me you are doing this from Drive or Dropbox.com. I’d be happy to give you a coupon so you can really test-drive your baby.

Your website?

https://www.starchive.io