Viddler is the latest contestant in the uber-competitive, thought this game was over, arguably bubble-stage video file sharing sector.
First what it does, then we’ll explain.
In a nutshell: Viddler does three things:
1) Sharing your story
Got a camera and some friends? Go have fun, and put the result on Viddler. Want some exposure for the movie you made at film school? Put it on Viddler—it gives you the opportunity to reach out to thousands of viewers online.
2) Making search results relevant
Since Viddler searches inside the content of videos, our users have a lot of flexibility when it comes to finding new material to watch. Search for any object, person, or place and the results will be staring you in the face with exactly what you wanted.
3) Bringing users together
Social networking is a big part of Viddler. Users can make friends and send messages to each other, but what really allows people to get their voice heard is timed commenting, which lets them discuss specific moments in a video, rather than just talking about the video as a whole.
#1 and #3 are basic functions of YouTube, Revver, Veoh, Guba, Blip, MetaCafe, etc. #2 is interesting but ripe for tag-spam, frankly. The problem is that even if it works, it seems like something that another company can easily duplicate, no?
The service is self-funded and looking for investors in a not-so-coy way: “We’re looking for outside investors.”
I would be very, very, very surprised if this company can get financing. I wish them well, because the idea of #2 is interesting, but again, when:
- the CEO of Guba comes out and admits the space is won by YouTube
- Revver’s senior management team is shown the door when the CEO is on vacation
- VCs have funded 200 clones
- #1 search player Google buys #1 video file sharing platform YouTube
- Top 5 service Metacafe can find buyers…
- UGC proves to miss with advertisers…
I just do not see much merit in such a service. It’s about 1 year too late in a segment (UGC video file sharing market) with an 18 month window, which is how long it took for Youtube to go from conception to exit. Of course, GooTube’s difficulties in monetizing content and fending off copyright issues shows the game is far from over, but the solution to overcoming the challenge in online video have more to do with monetization (to get advertisers - and not VCs - to finance the future growth of online video) than with “searching inside the video.”
I could be wrong, of course. Time will tell.
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WatchMojo NewsletterMicrosoft to bribe people to use its search engine… wow, first lashing out at Google, then trying to bribe people. Why not send over some hookers and coke?
Ironic (or actually, fitting) that the ad alongside the article is from Ask.com, who just launched a backwards ad campaign to discredit Google for “information control” in London and is wavering with about 3-4% market share (which, of course, is 3-4% more share of the market than MetaMojo.com has…)
Not that we are trying to steal a page from Valleywag or anything, but someone sent this to me:
The President of a company apparently ran into a former employee who had left a few weeks earlier.
Naturally, the small talk went as follows:
Boss: How’s everything?
Former employee: Great, I am working at so-so and things are going really well… I love it.
The next day, the boss is at the usual, nausea-inducing morning meetings at his company… when he decides to tell everyone that he has run into a former employee who “hates their new job, misses her former employer etc. etc.” as a reminder of how lucky they are to be working at such a hip, cool company.
Everyone is tempted to believe this, because clearly only a lowlife of pathetic proportions would make this up, right?
Only problem was that a fellow colleague in the room just happens to remain friends with the former “supposed miserable” employee, and actually calls the boss on his lie.
Result: instead of “motivating his troops” in the only backwards way that he can, he only ridicules himself further and shows once again just how pathetic and deceitful he really is (which incidentally, the other employees get to learn of more ways throughout the ensuing year…)
Anyone care to guess who this retardo is?
I guess it could be anyone, since it reminds me of someone I used to work for until I wisened up and dropped him like the bag of poo he was.
Valleywag and many others recently pointed out the irony of Sumner Redstone - Chairman of both CBS and Viacom - suing and working with YouTube. CBS just extended its deal for March Madness whereas Viacom just sued YouTube for $1B.
Does that make him a major hypocrito or what?
What.
Here’s why: first off, yes Quincy Smith who now runs CBS did so some banking work with Google, but I don’t think that is the key thing here. Not all content is created equally. March Madness involved highlights, reruns, and game recaps. In other words, the person that advertisers are paying to reach on CBS (the TV outlet) will not avoid TV for YouTube. If anything, I have stopped March Madness now for years, if I see some highlights on YouTube, it might make me want to watch the games on CBS (the TV outlet). In other words, it increases the likelihood of me watching the TV programming, that Sumner is fully in control of. Of note, Sumner’s CBS has disabled the embed function… but that’s another post.
With Viacom’s content, which involved funny tidbits from a myriad of shows, the simple truth is that watching highlight reels of funny material offers an alternative to watching it on TV, with ads, in drawn out segments etc. In other words, that is exactly what TV advertisers and CBS’ bread and butter fear. Sure, maybe a percentage of folks who see the clips on YouTube will miraculously see their interest spiked so they will change their schedules and stay up late and all of that nonsense… but this argument is, for all intents and purposes, nonsense. Oh, and the argument that Viacom should love it for consumers to upload, tag and share the video is ludicrous. Viral marketing is great, but for a large media company, owning and controlling the intellectual property is important (for a small media company less so). This too is a separate post.
The point is that - and I cannot believe I am saying this - Sumner Redstone is showing tremendous lucidity and common sense in his two-pronged approach with YouTube.
Man, I am getting old.
At my old job, I would oftentimes meet with people who had very little to offer me, nothing to do with my employer and frankly could be seen as “wasting my time,” if you asked my boss or other onlookers. I’d take phone calls to help people and learn more about their needs and goals, and it would draw the ire of some who wanted me to focus 100% on growing their nestegg.
I understand folks who want to maximize every single resource, mainly time and money, but sometimes, if you make time for others and show an unselfish dimension and long-term outlook on things, you’d be surprised what you can get back, be it in intangible or tangible means.
When I launched this company, it was very easy for me to give the outside world the one finger salute and take a “what’s in it for me, now?” attitude. In fact, I encounter people who have this mantra tattooed on their face and written on their business cards. When you meet someone who shares an unselfish demeanor, you take note. You want them to be a part of your team.
The Importance of Being Earnest
The challenge in business boils down to timing. Preparation and planning are required to be able to compete, but to win, you need your timing to be right on. When it comes to timing, you have to be careful that you connect the dots at the right time: it’s akin to watching a sports game when a bounce goes the right way and you wonder if the sports gods are smiling down on you.
In the world of an entrepreneur, it’s always a balancing act.
When a self-funded startup grows, you have to be careful how you manage assets and resources, no doubt. But you also can’t have a peasant mindset and think small. No disrespect to peasants folks, but it’s a big world out there, even more so if you are a small company. You have to meet as many people and think outside of your daily restrictions to be able to ramp up when need be.
We’re about to enter a period of hyper growth at WatchMojo.com, which implies a period of growth across the network of tech assets and media properties that are intertwined with it within Mojo Supreme.
Over the next weeks, we’ll be announcing a plethora of partnerships we have signed and are signing. I am probably at liberty to mention them but in a considerable sign of maturity (have I learned how to become patient?) I’ll hold off until the official press releases hit the wires.
When we talk to potential partners - be it of an operational or financial variety - they are flabbergasted as to how much we have done with such modest resources. The only thing they might be more flabbergasted by is our ambition and gameplan.
But what might be even more impressive is how a small company - in the ”world id big” content - can turn up the heat on the turn of a dime.
And… to connect the dots in this post, if we are able to execute 25% of our goals (we’ll execute 125% of our goals, make no doubt about it), a lot of it will have to do with being unselfish with our time, our resources and having an open outlook on people and things so that when you need to time an expansion, you don’t have to scramble to make things happen and connect the dots.
Karma does exist. Things do happen for a reason. Good things happen to those who wait. Patience is a virtue.
Insert cliche here… right, one more: To the victors go the spoils.
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