39 – From Selling His Snapchat Filter Co. – To a Fashion-First Social Platform Like Never Before w/ Chris Schmidt of Pluto Ventures

Start Canada Podcast

Meet Chris Schmidt, the original creator of Snapchat geo-filters and today, the CEO and Co-Founder of Pluto Ventures – a venture-backed artificial intelligence company that is leveraging the hyper-personalized online world and using our body dimensions to customize goods and services.

Get in on the ground floor of their new fashion-first social platform that captures your body dimensional data, and then uses that information to enhance your shopping experience. (Think – no more matching your body type to the reviews section because AI does it for you – in a much more reliable way!) AND the best part… Chris speaks for the first time ever – here on our show – about Pluto Ventures and how this new platform came to be over the last 3 years!

The founder, Chris Schmidt, is a pretty unique young guy. He started his first business at the age of ten. And right after university, he founded the world’s first Snapchat filter company, Geofilter Studio.

In case you didn’t realize who was behind all your first Snapchat filters – let me tell you more. Geofilter Studio exploded at an unprecedented rate of 24,000% and grew to 85 employees in the first year. They were the fastest-growing company in all of Canada in 2017 and became the largest filter producer in the world.

In this episode, CEO and Founder Chris Schmidt speaks about his innate entrepreneurial nature, how to build a strong workplace culture, and what it’s like to be creating modern – some may say millennial and even Gen Z – tech solutions.

So if you want to know what’s next in start-up tech, be sure to tune in to this episode of Start Canada Podcast with Chris Schidt – the founder of Geofilter Studio, Pluto Ventures, and more!

Listen now online here, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or find us on most major podcast platforms. Prefer video? Watch now on YouTube HERE!

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• 0:33 to 5:42 Get to know Chris Schmidt, multiple business founder
• 5:43 to 11:00 Becoming a young leader
• 12:10 to 18:09 Creating the biggest snap chat filter company – Geofilter Studios
• 18:10 to 23:00 Selling a successful scale-up
• 23:01 to 25:20 SPEED ROUND
• 27:19 to 30:10 Creating Pluto Ventures
• 30:25 to 35:17 *Exclusive Announcement* What has Chris and Pluto Ventures been building for the last 3 years? Answer: Parallel (Teaser: they are using body dimensional data to customize your shopping experience!)
• 35:18 to 38:55 Make money as an influencer on Parallel
• 39:01 to 46:20 Behind the scenes of a disruptive start-up; Building without customers and building great company culture
• 46:30 to 54:28 Funding and tips for starting a business
• 54:30 to 57:00 What’s next for Chris Schmidt

Follow Our Guest – And Let Them Know What You Learned From This Episode:

• https://www.pluto.ventures/ and https://www.joinparallel.io/
• Instagram @ChrisSchmidt and @JoinParallel.io
• Twitter @ChrisSchmidt and @PlutoVentures and @JoinParallel
• LinkedIn @Schmidt-C and @PlutoVentures and @JoinParallel
• Facebook @Schmidt.Chris11 and @PlutoVenturesOfficial and @JoinParallel.io
• TikTok @joinparallel
• Snapchat @joinparallel
• Schmidt Tree Banding

Follow Start Canada Podcast – And Share What You Learned From This Episode:

• Facebook: @StartCanadaPodcast
• Instagram: @StartCanadaPodcast
• LinkedIn: @StartCanadaPodcast
• Twitter: @MargauxAMiller
• YouTube: @StartCanadaPodcast

Start Canada Podcast is supported by:

• Scotiabank
• Manitoba Technology Accelerator
• Tech Manitoba