Failure Friday: “We had no desire to help college students cheat…”

Updated: November 19th, 2023

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Founders & Partners Jesse Austell and Caitlin Rogers started Next Day Animation, a Baltimore-based animation studio founded in 2012 that makes short and interactive animated content. The company produces excellent explainer animation videos to meet its clients’ communication requirements.

Besides being the co-founder, Caitlin is the chief of storytelling at Next Day Animation and handles the creative operations. Co-founder Jesse graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in nonprofit finance. He later earned a master’s degree in non-profit management from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Ten years ago, the co-founders were looking to start something in the communications deliverable segment, and Prezi, a Powerpoint alternative, was the only available app in the market.

They initially named their brand Next Day Prezi, and after its Launch, the brand had a lot of college students approaching them to get last-minute help with their college assignments. They were not catering to this market, and their services were priced too high ($800) for a student to pay.

Soon they got an actual client for whom they made a presentation, and their journey started there. The company is currently running for ten years, and now they are a 25-staff strong team that delivers results for their valued customers.

The company’s mission is to assist organizations in communicating complex ideas in an engaging and fun manner. Their team is made up of people who are smart, talented, and incredibly nice. It is a one-stop shop for professional animators, voice actors, and designers.

Next Day Animations partners with clients worldwide to deliver high-quality, powerful animations. Their clients include Big Brothers Big Sisters, HBO, Goodwill, and Johnson & Johnson.

Key Facts:

  • The founders never gave up despite their first business name flopped.
  • Proper pricing strategy is critical from the time of launching the business
  • Testing ideas and believing those ideas will succeed were critical success factors.
  • At Launch, they created a website and set up Google Ads, which landed the first potential customers.

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