Keegan Slattery '09 Talks Founding a Generative AI Startup and the Power of Early Connections

Keegan Slattery '09 is the co-founder of Bettershot.ai, an artificial intelligence tool that generates better-looking headshots.

When Keegan Slattery '09 looks at LinkedIn and other networking sites, he sees a recurring theme—a lot of people have bad profile photos. He wanted to help people look more polished and professional, so he and a coworker founded Bettershot.ai, an artificial intelligence tool that generates better-looking headshots from casual photos.

“A crappy photo doesn’t convey trust or professionalism, and it’s important to project those qualities in every interaction when trying to get a job,” said Keegan, who graduated from Kent Denver in 2009 and went on to earn his bachelors’ degrees in Information Management and Technology and Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises from Syracuse University.

“We want everyone to have strong photos that they love, and hiring a photographer is difficult, expensive and time consuming,” he said. “I adore getting feedback from users that they love the images we create and seeing the images in the wild on LinkedIn profiles.”

After spending his career in digital marketing at LinkedIn, 2U and several digital marketing agencies, Keegan wanted something of his own. Bettershot.ai marks his first time forging out on his own to start something from scratch.

“There’s a very different energy to working on something that, if successful, directly benefits you instead of a company’s shareholders,” he said. “I love working with my co-founder, Rachelle Brempong, and seeing the fruits of our collective efforts.”

Keegan didn’t expect to be working in the world of generative AI. “We found this technology and realized how impactful it could be if we apply it to a simple use case of professional headshots. I had enough of a background in technology to realize we could build something of our own without needing to code—just pass along clear directions to our developers. It was a great fit, so we took the leap!”
 
This past school year, Keegan visited campus and spoke about his entrepreneurial journey with the Business Club at Kent Denver. He described how an early connection with a KDS family led to his first full-time job out of college at LinkedIn, which really shaped the trajectory of his career and helped him land where he is now. 

Keegan advised the students to be proactive about reaching out to alumni on LinkedIn, as fostering these connections early on leads to a myriad of opportunities in the future.

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to alumni or friends who graduated from majors and colleges you want to explore. You’ll be surprised how much people want to help and talk about their experiences,” he said. “After all, the worst thing they can do is say no. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get!”

Keegan credits his Kent Denver education’s focus on quality writing to have helped him excel in college and in the corporate world.

“My foundation of writing skills was particularly helpful in college—I found I could write better than nearly all of my peers. It turns out very few people learned the finer points of grammar from Ms. DesJardin! This ability to communicate clearly on term papers, email and Powerpoint continues to serve me every single day.”

If you’d like to get some new headshots for yourself or your friends, check out Bettershot.ai.