Andra Chirnogeanu – Head of Business Communication, Stripchat
What serves as a guiding principle in your company? How does that guiding principle integrate with our company vision, mission, and values?
We have signs that say “Create things that you would use yourself” all over our offices, and that’s exactly the motto our team lives by and works for. We can see it reflected in all the money-making features we offer. For example, live shows are great and always profitable, but it’s only when they’re combined with other active and passive income streams that earnings really skyrocket. So, we just started rolling out features that we would like to use ourselves to boost our income if we were to stream. Now, models can sell content in their profile and via the onsite messenger. On top of that, they can create Fan Clubs (our native paid subscription service) and a feature called Timeline, similar to Instagram stories, where they can also sell content. We are well known for live cam technology progress. As a model, you will notice how many new games, bots, and other features we’ve developed to help you diversify your shows. Multiply it by our improved VR technology, accessible with any VR goggles via any browser. Add our third-party integrated messenger for sexting to earn even offline. And here, you have a perfect combo to boost your income. We’re committed to ensuring that the performers using our platform are always taken care of and heard.
How do you plan for the future of your company?
We’re studying the trends, looking at the things we’ve done before that worked and how we can improve overall. There isn’t a special potion to make a company successful other than a dedicated team that works well together and is willing to learn from the good and the bad.
Is there any popular entrepreneurial advice that you agree/disagree with? Why?
I completely disagree with the old ‘If you build it, they will come” catchall phrase.
I see a lot of companies/people ran by an idea and a glitch of hope, and the desire to make a quick buck without actually putting in the time to study the market needs. It breaks my heart to see a new business that you know is going to fail in short order.
In the adult industry especially, we see all the time new products and companies that invest money, and then they’re out as fast as they got in. There are so many things that go into a successful company/product, other than hope and money to spend.
What are some hard choices you had to make to get where you are?
Choosing between my friends/family and work. In hindsight, now I regret some of the choices I made.
I chose to go on a business meeting that I could have very well rescheduled instead of going to support one of my best friends on one of the most important days of their lives.
I believe that we all get a sense of false urgency when we’re dedicated to our work, but sometimes it’s good to take a step back and remember that we’re humans. Sure, attending that business meeting helped me get where I am today, but I’m sure I would have gotten here regardless; it might have just taken a bit more time.
How does your business compare to competitors in the market?
Keeping all the traffic inside our platform sets us apart from the rest, which is an excellent help for models. There’s no chance we use banners or external ads; hence, we keep all of our 800+ million monthly users engaged with Stripchat models only.
Overall, Stripchat is a site that reaches out to models, studios, and users for their honest feedback. We listen, review, improve and implement accordingly, from minor details like ‘the location of this button is interfering with my view’ to more significant changes like ‘allowing banning users’.
Moreover, we have 0 piracy tolerance and are not afraid of losing some affiliates if that means our performers will feel respected and taken care of.
What changes have you made to your business strategy over the past few years?
I wouldn’t say the business strategy has changed in any way. It would be more accurate to say that it adapted to the times and the needs of both performers and users.
A good example is what we did during the pandemic following an enormous demand for mobile-friendly content. Reportedly, in 2020, after the pandemic began, we saw 74% of users visiting Stripchat from mobile devices. So, we ensured that we could provide premium mobile streaming quality to models and a totally different layout for users watching cams via mobile devices. Simply put, we allowed users to immerse into live streams better, providing them with adjusted resolutions and improved chat options. Of course, we’ve also made it simpler for them to find Tip and Buy Tokens buttons.
