Rakesh Agrawal is founder and CEO of SnapStream, a Houston-based tech company that serves as a real-time news and media search engine. Photo courtesy of SnapStream

If you've ever watched 'The Daily Show,' or other late night TV programs, then you've most likely seen the product of a small business born right here in Houston.

SnapStream is a tech company that serves as a real-time news and media search engine. It's being used by national news, media and other organizations to quickly capture, search, create and share video clips. The small business has seen tremendous growth since it launched in 2000. In just the last four years, the SnapStream's revenue has grown about 40% every year. 

On this episode of the Small Biz Insider podcast, we talk with SnapStream Founder and CEO Rakesh Agrawal about how 'The Daily Show' was an inflection point and how an internal focus on the business has driven growth and success.

On 'The Daily Show' choosing SnapStream in 2010

Agrawal said the company's relationship with the late night TV program began a decade ago. 'The Daily Show' was upgrading to high definition and redoing the system they used to acquire clips. The program selected SnapStream over two other companies. Agrawal said it was a great inflection point for SnapStream.

“Actually in a lot of ways, how [the Daily Show] used our product also shaped our product," said Agrawal. We built a lot of the capabilities and software for The Daily Show. They were an early customer."

On SnapStream's "secret sauce"

“I think the sort of ‘secret sauce’ of SnapStream is making it easy for organizations to find the key moments and then very quickly," said the SnapStream CEO. "Speed is a key element of what we deliver to our customers because in the news and media industry, you need to be able to turn things around quickly. You have to do more with less.”

On what makes Houston a great place to live and build a business

"There's so many things I love about Houston," said Agrawal. "I've chosen to live in Houston and be in this community. At a personal level, I love food in Houston and the restaurant scene. I'm a foodie and there's great, amazing creatives in Houston on the food scene."

The SnapStream founder added Houston also has a lot of great resources for business owners. "You just have to go out and find them. You have to build the network.”

Small Biz Insider is presented by: 

Learn more about the Partnership’s Small Biz Matters business resource group and get information about how your organization can become a member today. 

The Small Biz Insider podcast is part of our digital series highlighting entrepreneurs in the greater Houston region who are making a big impact in the small business community. Follow Small Biz Insider through these popular podcast players so you never miss a new episode: 

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