Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Sherman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Aaron. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My whole life I have been passionate about three things, wanting to start my own company, being a creator, and helping people think through problems. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight I couldn’t have designed a more perfect company for my strengths and passions.
I have been preparing for this company since I was 17 years old. Starting in HS I was working for startups out of the back of people’s houses. When I went to college I pursued a BS in Management and an MS in Computer Science from RPI. I then worked for ~10 years across technical and business roles in the US, Spain, and Australia.
What I saw throughout my journeys, and looking in the mirror, was most people, myself included really struggled to organize their thoughts and present them to other people in a way that made sense.
I created this company to bring the empowering ability of storyboards to the masses that can’t draw.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There is an old cliché, nothing in life worth doing is easy. Nothing with this company has been easy! Externally we a global power hours of a website, internally we have worked tirelessly, every day, for years. As a leader one of the most important things I tell my team is failure is beautiful. And to embrace it as often as possible, stare it down and try again and come back more powerful.
The first version of Storyboard That was an utter and complete soul crushing failure. It was for windows only, the artwork was subpar, and the target audience was wrong. After watching it fail, and fail, and fail again, I stared from scratch, relaunched as a website and teachers fell in love
What we learned quickly, is teachers are looking for new ways to engage their students, help them retain the information and grow the student’s overall confidence. We found this visual tool is a great addition to many of their curriculums. Students love the program and teachers love the outcome.
We have an amazing team of teachers who work with us. They give us the view inside their classrooms and help us create enriching content as well as a perspective that has become invaluable. We love working with teachers and helping to increase communication at a young age.
Please tell us about Storyboard That.
Storyboard That’s award-winning, browser based Storyboard Creator is the perfect tool to create storyboards, graphic organizers, comics, and powerful visual assets for use in an education, business, or personal setting. We offer a customizable art library that features drag and drop characters, scenes, and props and users can select from many different layout
Much of our business is in the education field. We have created over 500 Common Core-aligned teacher guides for use in ELA, History, World Languages, Special Education, Social Studies, STEM, Health and Wellness. This allows teachers to copy the activities into their account and use them as examples in their classroom.
We are trying to make it as easy as possible for teachers to try the storyboard creator, add it into their curriculum, and have students make some beautiful storyboards.
I love talking with teachers about their challenges in the classroom and how Storyboard That has leveled the playing field for students who cannot draw, as well as those who cannot communicate effectively through written word. We have been told some students who struggle to write an essay on a book create in depth and detailed storyboards. Both struggling students and gifted classes use the storyboard creator in very different ways. This differentiated lesson plan style allows teachers change assignments based on their student’s needs.
One area that has grown lately is the use of Storyboard That for special education. We love seeing teachers, parents, and students use the storyboard creator as a communication device for everyday living. Making schedule boards, if then boards and so many other. It helps those who do not communicate by writing or even speaking. It’s amazing.
Corporate
Our corporate customer uses Storyboard That in some very creative ways. We see Fortune 1000 companies using the storyboard creator to illustrate scenarios and think about new ideas for product development and create marketing personas for a new concept.
We also see companies using storyboards for human resource tasks including onboarding employees and company policies. Logistic companies use storyboards to illustrate processes of their drivers, deliveries and so much more.
Our corporate market can also make funny comics for signs around the office. It brightens people’s days and everyone remembers to take their food home on Fridays when they see a funny meme on the refrigerator.
I created the product as a tool innovators could use to illustrate if an idea or product would be viable, before creating a prototype. One thing we understand is launching a product takes so much thought and it is great to draw out your idea and business scenarios. For those who cannot draw (me), this tool is necessary to for investor presentations, to show your vision to your team or simply for an idea to make sense on paper.
Our users are so creative. They are the reason we have come as far as we have. Making the storyboard creator is one step, making something that people love to use is what I am most proud of.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to do everything over again, I would skip all the things that failed, but at our core, I am happy with how we performed.
As a company we have always made an effort to listen very closely to what our customers love and what they don’t. Without taking a few wrong turns we wouldn’t have learned the key features that make our customers love us.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I can take credit for very little of what we have become. I got the ball rolling on the company and proved it was viable. As soon as I did that, I surrounded myself by the smartest most passionate people I could find and they built this beloved company. From the quirkiness and style of our characters, amazing user experience, and world class curriculum the team identified the business opportunities and flawlessly executed.
My biggest cheerleader has always been my wife. From the hardest failures to the biggest wins she has always believed in me, and pushed me to work harder, smarter and never give up.
Pricing:
- Teacher Edition – Starts at $8.95 a month
- Individual Edition – Free for light usage, or $9.95 a month
- Team Edition – Starts at $14.95 a month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.storyboardthat.com
- Phone: 617-607-4259
- Email: Hello@StoryboardThat.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyboardthat/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StoryboardThat
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/storyboardthat
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/storyboardthat/
Image Credit:
Storyboard That Team
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