Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • September 25, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Hartford startup harnesses social media, sharing economy Q&A talks with Jonathan Johnson who is the owner of SnapSeat, a photo booth rental company based in Hartford. Q. What is SnapSeat and how did you start the business? A. SnapSeat Photo Booths provides professional photo booths and photo activa- tions to corporate events, festivals, wed- dings and parties throughout New England — based here in Hartford. I started with a lifelong interest in photography. The first idea and attempt at this business started with portrait stations at a few festivals in 2010. After I was laid off from an accounting job, I launched SnapSeat in 2013. Q. Technology is impacting most busi- nesses these days including photo booth companies. SnapSeat has a live social media marketing offering for its corporate event photo booths. What is it and what's unique about it? A. SnapSeat generates live social media impressions at events, which allows guests to create instant posts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email and text. Guests make a memory, post it to their social accounts, and put a photo strip in their pockets. At larger events, we generate thousands of social media impressions and email lists for remarketing. Q. What's the next technological innova- tion for photo booths? A. When I started in 2010, we had a low- tech, "old school" photography concept that included a digital camera, tripod and a couple small printers. As the industry de- veloped, improved hardware and software became available when we relaunched in 2013 and continues to improve. We've reinvested in technology for the first three years, upgrading to improve our sys- tems, computers and software. I'm on my fifth model of photo booth in just three years to find the right mix of aesthetic, size and func- tion. Now we have upgraded our entire fleet from one booth to five photo booth setups. Our software developer also continu- ally improves, rolling out new features and trending options — video booths, live slow- motion video, animated GIFs, boomerangs, green screen, live slideshows and more. Q. You recently testified in front of Con- gress' House Education and the Workforce Committee on a hearing about the sharing economy and the opportunities it provides for innovation and flexibility. Why did you testify and what was your message to the committee? A. I'm passionate about entrepreneurship and we need to help people who want to risk their time, talent and resources to start a business. I represented the everyday business owner at the committee hearing. There were three industry experts who testfied on the sharing economy. The message I shared was that regulations and taxes are burden- some and difficult to navigate for new en- trepreneurs. I believe we need to create an environment on a state and national level to foster success for startups. That could include giving tax breaks to Jonathan Johnson Owner of SnapSeat FOCUS: Technology Digital Compliance Insurance attorneys tap tech for broker compliance venture By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com J ust as many employers outsource payroll functions to a third party, some insurance agencies and brokers out- source their tracking of myriad state regulations. Insurance attorneys and Connecticut natives Chuck Welsh and Mike Griffin took note of a growing cottage in- dustry of companies offering compliance management to insurance sellers, who are increasingly operating online and across state lines. With their background and expertise in the industry — and some help from technology — Griffin and Welsh thought they could do it better. The two UConn Law grads who had worked together as insur- ance attorneys for 12 years in the Hartford office of the former Edwards & Angell, left their partner positions three years ago and set out to do just that. They quickly launched their own law firm, ACCEL Law Group, in West Hartford, which helps insurers with regulatory compliance. So far, they've found early success, building up a client base along the East Coast and Midwest and launching a new compliance software program and related business unit. They've also recently received state aid to grow their firm. Griffin said he and his partner know the insurance industry "frontwards and backwards," but building a compliance software system wasn't in their wheelhouse. So as they began building up a client base for their new firm, they worked with software develop- ers to create a cloud-based platform that helps insurance sellers streamline and keep track of broker and agent licenses. "We had a good concept, kind of like a painting, but we didn't know how to paint it," Welsh said. Last year, when they felt the technology was ready for prime time, they launched a second business entity, ACCEL Compliance, and started pitching the platform, called ACCEL Compliance Man- agement Suite. The software allows users to keep track of and streamline re- quired regulatory filings, and to securely upload other important documents all in one place. It also provides ACCEL Compliance fairly predictable monthly revenue on a per license, per state basis. Insurance attorneys Chuck Welsh (left) and Mike Griffin left partner positions to launch their own insurtech startup in West Hartford, called ACCEL Law Group. HBJ PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER

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