Today we’d like to introduce you to JR deSouza.
Hi JR, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
As a former Olympic swimmer, after getting my graduate degree, I began my professional working career in technology, working for Philips Electronics, the Dutch company. I got a job in Silicon Valley, where I worked for 8 years in audio, video, and home networking. Philips was the first consumer electronics company to invest in TiVo, the TV service, and I worked closely with the founders in the early days. I was eventually hired as a product manager at TiVo pre-IPO, and I helped build the team, launch 3 different TiVo platforms for TV, Cable, and Satellite, and take the company public. After the dot-com bust in 2000, I was hired by Samsung Electronics, where I managed their digital video products, including high-definition TV and DVD products, and imaging (cameras & camcorders) in the United States.
After a decade on the technology and software side of the electronics business, I was hired by the Walt Disney Company in Hollywood to help the transition to digital media products, starting with music and, eventually, TV shows and movies. I launched Disney Mix, dipping the company’s toes into direct digital content distribution. As Bob Iger replaced Michael Eisner at the helm of the company, he entered into a partnership with Steve Jobs at Apple, and Disney brought its content to iTunes, completing a transition into digital distribution. I subsequently joined Dreamworks Animation studios across the street as head of international licensing for the Americas, leading efforts in merchandising, experiences, and opening offices in Canada, Mexico, and Brazil to support Jeffrey Katzenberg and the company’s growth across the American continent.
In 2010, I started Outex, an underwater housing system for cameras. Outex combined many of my personal passions and professional skills. The Outex system makes camera gear waterproof, allowing content creators to shoot in any environmental condition. My cousin and I collaborated on the original patents for the product in the early 2000s, and we’ve been expanding the company’s intellectual property portfolio and market space ever since. We cater to professional and amateur photographers and cinematographers that need to use a variety of cameras and lenses in adverse environments and need a modular system that is lightweight, compact, travel friendly, but delivers professional optical results and allows full operational control. I had been growing the company while working at Dreamworks Animation, and I decided to go full-time when Dreamworks was acquired by NBC Universal.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting a business is seldom a “smooth road.” There are challenges at every turn, but the worse ones are unforeseen surprises you never saw coming, such as the pandemic of 2020. I was fortunate in my career to have had a mix of roles that helped prepare me to run a business. I’ve had an opportunity to work at both domestic start-up companies as well as large multinationals. And my jobs required me to work across functional areas within each business to help me understand different aspects of product development, life cycle management, customer support, financing, returns, retail, marketing, as well as a fair share of conflict resolution. And I was able to apply many of those lessons into my own company. I tried to grow organically and not beyond our means. And I was good at knowing what I didn’t know, which helped me avoid severe pitfalls. We’re vertically integrated, which means we own our own tools and have close relationships with our factories. We also kept manufacturing “local” rather than trying to offshore production. Our research & development, quality control, inventory management, and shipping costs of local production offset any potential cheaper overseas production costs and other associated uncontrollable factors. And those decisions also helped us navigate the pandemic since we maintained some contact and control over our supply chain.
We’ve been impressed with Outex, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Outex fills a need in the underwater camera housing market. It combines the best of both worlds; professional imaging quality from using optical glass ports (not acrylic), working with all camera makes & models (rather than just one), and maintaining full operational control over buttons, wheels, knobs, touchscreens, etc. over the camera and lenses while adding virtually no weight or bulk to the equipment – at an affordable price.
Unlike dedicated hard cases that only fit one body or lens, Outex’s modular design evolves along with your gear, grows in accordance with your needs, and fits multiple purposes: sand, dirt, mud, rain, and underwater.
Outex is used by professional photographers, the armed forces, and content creators around the world.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
We define success as customer satisfaction, innovation, and growth. We have thousands of customers around the world in a variety of imaging disciplines, from portraits to adventure and sports – from National Geographic award winners to enthusiasts. All of ambassadors started as customers, without exception, and we rely on genuine, relevant marketing to tell our story. Several of our patents over the years have been a direct result of collaborations with users and ambassadors that needed our help to solve real-world problems in their field, such underwater wired shooting at the Olympics to military recondense.
Pricing:
Contact Info:
- Website: https://outex.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realoutex/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OUTEX/
- Twitter: https://x.com/outexphoto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Outex/videos
Image Credits
Brett Stanley
JR deSouza
Dan M Lee
Carla Durante
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