“I knew what I wanted,” he said. “But there was no software out there that could do it.” So Borders wrote the original software code that would eventually become ScrapWalls, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based startup.

At ScrapWalls (), users can construct shape collages from digital photographs. All that’s required is to upload the photos and select a template. There are more than 25 templates to choose from or users can create a customized shape of their own. The templates range from hearts to sailboats, so there’s a shape for every occasion. ScrapWalls has a very simple interface and automated picture-placement, which makes it easy to transform just a few or even more than a hundred individual photos into a cohesive image. Its patent-pending auto-adjustment technology ensures that everything aligns perfectly - eliminating any gaps or overlapping images.

ScrapWalls is 100 percent web-based. There’s nothing to download and nothing to install on a computer, so even a PC at an Internet café or school could be used to make a collage. All collages are free to share online. Additionally, ScrapWalls offers inexpensive, high-quality prints of their collages ranging in size from 11” by 14” to 20” by 30.” The collages are printed by District Photo and for $10 can even be shipped internationally.

“ScrapWalls was started as a hobby by myself and some friends,” explained Borders, now 25 years old. “It came from our interest in photography and we’re also software engineers for our main jobs. ScrapWalls is something that we created in our spare time and funded with our own money. We’re really passionate about it, but we’re not the typical start-up that had a bunch of venture capital and people working fulltime. It’s something that anyone who has free time and motivation, and I guess is a young person interested in technology, could do. It’s definitely possible to create a website or web application or some sort of computer software related to a topic that you’re interested in and see it all the way through. You don’t necessarily need a large investment to get your idea off the ground.”   

The company runs with just a team of four – Borders, ScrapWalls’ co-founder Joe Golden, Walter Nowinski handles marketing and Dan Polant is the entire engineering department. Golden and Borders don’t even live in the same city anymore. Golden remains in Ann Arbor, but Borders has relocated to Washington D.C. The geographical locations of the team members are irrelevant, as there is a high level of trust between the partners and ScrapWalls operates with an online business model.

“We just communicate about what needs to be done,” said Borders. “Each of us knows what we can do and what we need help with. So it does work out very well. In a small company it’s important to have a very proactive mentality. There are lots of things to do and you need to aggressively get them done. In a large company people will throw things over the fence and make excuses for why it’s not their job. That definitely wouldn’t work in a company of our size.”

In going from an online proof of concept to an online business, ScrapWalls took advice from District Photo, the largest direct-to-consumer photo fulfillment operation in the world. District Photo pointed ScrapWalls in the direction of doing the shape collages and printing the collages. The company also advised them on how to design the website’s technology in a customer-friendly fashion. Since its inception in 2007, the software code behind ScrapWalls’ collages has improved dramatically. Where Borders’ original layout once required hours of resizing and arranging images, ScrapWalls’ new automated template system allows users to create and customize similar collages in a matter of seconds

“Initially our website just allowed people to manually drag their photos where they wanted them and then share their collages. But that’s not really a business model,” said Borders. “We hadn’t really thought of how to make money off of it so we could have a viable business. The re-launch of our website, which includes selling collages online and the shape collages, just occurred a few weeks ago.”

Despite the difficult economic situation in the USA, over the past year Borders and Golden decided to move forward with their plans to go from a proof of concept website to monetizing the ScrapWalls idea. Borders believes that since ScrapWalls has always been supported entirely by the extra time and money of its founders, it’s a situation that will simply continue as the economy recovers.

“Because we just started and did not have any revenue one year ago, we have not been affected by a decline in sales. Things are how they are now, and we don’t know them any other way,” Borders commented. “Starting a company in a bad economy just forces us to be extremely focused and efficient from day one. Of course, we are proud of our shape collages and have faith in our customers. In both good times and bad, there is always a demand for high-quality products at reasonable prices.”