This is a subscriber-only article. Join Entrepreneur+ today for access

Learn More

Already have an account?

Sign in
Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

Ex-Investment Banker Pursues a Business Idea from His College Days By digitizing old photos and videos, ScanDigital turns picture preservation into a profitable business.

By Joel Holland

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Things were good for Anderson Schoenrock when he took a lucrative position with Lehman Brothers after graduating from Dartmouth in 2001. They got better when he partnered with colleagues in 2004 to start a boutique investment firm for commercial real estate; better still when the market boomed from 2004 through 2006; and better once again when Jones Lang LaSalle acquired the company in 2006, leaving Schoenrock with a lucrative package and continuing opportunities for profit.

But Schoenrock, now 32 and CEO of photo scanning company ScanDigital, walked away from all of it in 2007, banking his future on an entrepreneurial idea he'd had since college: to create an easy and versatile method of scanning and converting photos and videos into digital assets that would never deteriorate.

The idea stemmed from a conversation with his college friend--and now co-founder of ScanDigital--Michael Mothner, who was describing his mother's reaction to getting a digital camera. "This is great," she told Mothner, "but how do I take all those photo albums in the garage from the last 20 years and put them on the computer so I have all of my digital photos and old photos together?"

Editor's Pick

Related Topics

Devices

This Simple USB Device Turns TVs into an Art Gallery for $39.99

It's compatible with smart TVs and other digital frames.

Marketing

4 Marketing Budget Hacks That Will Boost Your Business in 2024

Use these tried and true tips to create a marketing budget that really moves the needle on your success in the upcoming year.

Business News

'Are These Big 12 Refs?': Dr Pepper College Football Halftime Giveaway Goes Wrong After Counting Error

The Internet served as the ultimate instant replay during the Dr. Pepper Halftime Tuition Giveaway on Saturday as the refs appeared to blow the call.

Fundraising

How to Create a Winning Pitch for Your Digital Platform

Zach Barney, the founder of Mobly, explains how he created a successful pitch for his big shot at glory on "Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch."

Fundraising

This 19-Year-Old College Student's Invention Relieves Migraines -- and His Pitch Landed a $10,000 Investment

On this episode of the "Post-Pitch Podcast," David Fleming explains the development of his health product, and how he created a pitch that blew investors' minds.