When Cameo launched in Chicago a few years ago, the startup was among the first companies to bring personalized celebrity shout outs to the mainstream.
Now, backed with more $65 million in venture capital funding, the startup has cemented itself as the leader in the celebrity engagement industry, providing pre-recorded, personal messages to fans from their favorite celebrities, influencers and athletes.
But a new local upstart, called Real Talk Live, is trying to break into the celebrity engagement business, bringing consumers not just pre-recorded messages, but one-on-one video calls with high-profile people.
The company is being led by founder Gus Fakhouri, a DePaul University grad, and William Pritzker, Real Talk Live’s co-operating partner who is related to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. (Pritzker’s father is the cousin of J.B., but the governor has no affiliation with the company, Pritzker said.)
The startup, which launched in February, has built an online marketplace for users to find and pay for video calls with famous people. The startup focuses on offering up social media influencers, professional athletes and even well-known business leaders.
Talent on Real Talk Live includes Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison, Windy City Live Co-Host Val Warner and YouTuber Adrienne Finch.
“Some of them have half a million social media followers, and so think about how hard it is to get in touch with these people on their primary platform. But for $20, you can have a nice phone call,” said Pritzker, who lists himself on the platform for $1 per minute.
Real Talk Live allows talent to set their own rates per minute and lets users request as many minutes as they want for a single call. If the talent hangs up early, the fan is only charged for the time they used, but if a fan hangs up early, they are committed to pay for all of the time they requested.
Before making a call to talent, users are required to introduce themselves and provide information on what they want to chat about. All the calls are recorded but remain private within Real Talk Live’s database. Rates range from $1 per minute to $75 per minute, depending on the talent.
“Whether they want to talk about sports with their favorite athlete or get business advice from an influential expert that works in their field, our objective is really to bridge that social gap,” Fakhouri said. “We are giving people the ability to actually engage and communicate with the talent directly.”
Upon joining Real Talk Live, Pritzker invested in the startup’s seed round, though he declined to disclose how much he invested or how much the round was in total. But he said the company is fundraising a second round in March.
Real Talk Live also wouldn’t disclose its investors, but it’s worth noting that Pritzker Group Venture Capital, which was co-founded by J.B. Pritzker, has invested in Cameo.
Though Real Talk Live is similar to Cameo in many ways, Fakhouri said he does not consider the startup a direct competitor because Cameo focuses on pre-recorded messages while Real Talk Live only offers direct calls, which they consider a more intimate and authentic experience.
"There’s a social disconnect between influencers and their fan base."
“One piece of feedback we’ve gotten from talent time and time again is that Cameo feels very impersonal to them,” Pritzker said.
Instead of directly competing with Cameo, Real Talk Live says startups like Looped and California-based Vidsig, which both offer one-on-one, live video chats with celebrities, operate more in their vertical.
Google also launched a service in 2018 called Cameos, but it’s designed to allow high-profile people to answer questions about themselves that will show up in a Google search, as opposed to communicating directly with fans.
To fend off competition, Real Talk Live is focused on onboarding more talent and promoting its platform. The startup’s team of eight currently works out of an office in River North.
“There’s a social disconnect between influencers and their fan base,” Fakhouri said. “Whether [fans are] getting business advice or just having the ability to talk to those that they admire most … that’s the area that we’re going to be hitting home on.”
