When cousins Jedd Gold and Jeff Lipp were growing up on the east coast—in Westport, CT and Westchester, NY, respectively—their hometowns nurtured a sense of community and instilled a value for childhood defining artifacts. Later in life, when they both found themselves in Los Angeles pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors, they were drawn to Brentwood for similar reasons. “Despite Los Angeles being a sprawling city, Brentwood has a small-town feel,” says Gold. “That’s why we both love it as much as we do. The desire to build community has very much shaped how we run our company and treat our team.”
The company of reference is Artkive, founded by the duo in 2012—a business that transforms children’s artwork, sentimental cards and family heirlooms into colorful bound books and framed mosaics through professional photo documentation. A true testament to the adage “necessity is the mother of invention”—or in Gold and Lipp’s case, father of invention—the idea came to life when Gold, then the father of a three- and six-year-old, found himself drowning in the fruits of their creative labors. Seeking reprieve, he quickly discovered that do-it-yourself photobooks were too time-consuming and that documenting 3D work was nearly impossible.
“I still remember we had him over for dinner in early 2012—I thought it sounded really cool and wanted to be a part of it,” Lipp recalls of Gold’s original pitch for Artkive. What Lipp signed on to was born after Gold spent an evening scouring the Apple App Store, only to find no viable tool for organizing copious amounts of artwork. That same night, Gold wireframed the concept. Two weeks later, the company was incorporated, $50,000 was raised from friends and family and they hired a designer and programmers.
“It was a seven-year overnight success—you just missed the first six years and nine months where we were struggling,” Gold amusingly recalls. The company landed on The Today Show within five days of launching, accompanied by years of weekly features on the App Store. Yet appearances were deceiving: while the optics looked promising, the initial business model was not.
“Our business model was free storage on the app, and then customers pay for the printing of books,“ Gold says, reflecting on the company’s first five unprofitable years. “Every single day, 500 to 5,000 pieces of art were uploaded—and my assumption that everyone would eventually print was totally wrong.”
What Gold was not wrong about was the demand for a service. The breakthrough came when Artkive pivoted and provided prepaid boxes, for which parents gladly paid a premium for the company to document their children’s artwork. Even then, profitability was minimal and sustainability elusive. “By late 2018, we gave it one last shot—hire an agency, make a viral video and give it 90 days,” Gold says of the partners’ last-ditch effort.
“We put the video up in November 2018, and I woke up the next morning and we had sold 90 boxes,” Gold recalls of the 45-second bit showcasing the simple step-by-step process of creating a book set to catchy music. “Within three weeks, the postal service was sending nine-ton trucks.” Their Hail Mary had not only scored a touchdown—it won them the Super Bowl of entrepreneurial success.
“We’ve never lost a single box,” Gold adds. Fast forward seven years, and the founding partners now operate out of a 20,000-square-foot creative studio slash warehouse in Van Nuys. Customers order an empty branded Artkive box, fill it with an eclecticism of art, ship it to the HQ and the pieces are painstakingly and professionally photographed, edited, formatted and turned into stunning keepsakes.
“Find good people, give them direction and get out of the way,“ says Lipp—described by Gold as the logistical genius—of Artkive’s internal success. With a promote-from-within strategy and a community-first ethos, it is a workplace with remarkably low turnover.
“Growing up in small towns nurtured our sense of community,” Gold fondly reflects. “I love when people hear I’m with Artkive and get excited,” Lipp adds. “It makes me feel like I’m contributing to their lives.”
The genius and necessity of this type of business unfortunately became crystal clear in the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires, when Artkive printed dozens of free replacement books for prior customers who had lost everything. “You don’t think about these things until they’re gone—every ‘I love you, Mommy’ card, every handmade ornament, suddenly irreplaceable,” says Kate Wessells, who tragically lost not only her home in the Palisades Fire but also four years of her children’s artwork. “In desperation, I reached out to Artkive. They reprinted everything, free of charge. When the books arrived, my children couldn’t put them down—each page a piece of their childhood returned.”
Reflecting on how exponential Gold and Lipp’s contribution to their neighbors were, Wessells continues: “After losing everything, these were the first tangible pieces of our past that we could hold again. This lifted a crushing weight off my chest.”
What began as an idea between cousins with a drive to serve an untouched niche—documenting memories and salvaging childhoods—has grown into a flourishing business. Today, the umbrella company Kive Co. also includes Cardkive (cardsbyartkive.com), for personal cards, notes and wedding keepsakes and Photokive (photokive.com), offering state-of-the-art technology to digitize family albums without removing a single photo.
Deeply connected to the spirit of Brentwood, Gold and Lipp have built more than a business—they’ve fostered a bond of gratitude that flows between company and community. In the end, Artkive’s legacy is not just about preservation, but about continuity: a timeless reminder that the memories we hold closest are the ones that shape us, and the ones worth keeping forever.
For more information, email help@arkiveapp.com or visit artkiveapp.com. Use code “Brentwood” at checkout for $25 off.
"The desire to build community has very much shaped how we run our company and treat our team.”
“You don’t think about these things until they’re gone.”