Hello! My name is Randy dela Fuente, Founder of Snapizzi. I first discovered Snapizzi in 2010 as a user of the first iteration of their software. Snapizzi eventually ended up powering the workflow for my high-volume photography business — one of the largest in Washington state.
At the time, I was working on developing our own proprietary barcode scanning system to help automate our production workflow, which involved the management of tens of thousands of images per year.
I quickly abandoned the project after trying Snapizzi’s powerful software shortly after they launched in late 2009. Snapizzi offered my photography business an end-to-end, photo-hosting solution familiar to photographers today. And I soon came to rely on Snapizzi to automate our production workflow.
In 2011, I learned Snapizzi would soon be shutting down for reasons unrelated to the efficacy of the software they created. I panicked at the thought of going back to the “old” methods I had used. Fortunately, I was able to negotiate an agreement allowing me the sole use of Snapizzi with the option to re-launch it as a monthly subscription service for photographers in the future.
Ecstatic at the resolution, I continued to use Snapizzi to power my event photography business for the next two years. Snapizzi’s platform and underlying source code hadn’t been maintained or significantly updated since it was built. It would have been an enormous undertaking and expense to try and re-launch it as a business in its original state.
However, in 2013, I learned that many of today’s leading photo-hosting sites allowed third-party developer access to their platforms. This meant that rather than competing with them for users, we could essentially “plug-in” Snapizzi to existing platforms. It was then, after spending nearly 25 years in high-volume photography, that I decided to close my business and begin to focus on rebuilding Snapizzi from the ground up.
The quest to revive Snapizzi had begun.
Throughout it all, I have come to realize that my best work comes when the focus of my efforts is on helping others — and that is the foundation that Snapizzi is built on.
After plunging headfirst into the startup space and two years of development, Snapizzi officially launched on January 1, 2015, on the award-winning platform, Zenfolio. The first of many to come.
I have a special passion for Snapizzi because of the incredible journey of discovery it has led me on in both my personal and professional lives. Throughout it all, I have come to realize that my best work comes when the focus of my efforts is on helping others — and that is the foundation that Snapizzi is built on.
On behalf of the dedicated team here at Snapizzi, I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to share with you what we have built.
With gratitude,
Editor’s Note: This article tells the story of how Snapizzi was rediscovered, rebuilt, and relaunched on January 1, 2015. Much has changed since then, but the experience that led to Snapizzi remains central to the platform today: it was built from the perspective of a working high-volume photographer trying to eliminate the repetitive work involved in managing thousands of images.
Since that launch, Snapizzi has continued to evolve alongside the photographers who use it. You can follow that evolution through the Snapizzi Release History.
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