Comments on: Interview: Mike Volpi: Broadcasters’ Own VOD Plans Killed Joost

By: Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:14:29 +0000

Mike Volpi was the CEO, it's not like he was the receptionist at Joost… so surely if one is responsible for the bad decisions and execution of the company it is him, otherwise what was his role there ?

By: Robert Andrews

Robert Andrews — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:13:17 +0000

To be fair, Mike was a CEO appointed by Zennstrom and Friis to execute an idea that seemed like a decent one at the time.

They conceived The Venice Project, another extension of their P2P expertise, before Hulu was announced, before the BBC made a success of its own iPlayer and tried launching Kangaroo. Sometimes, you can't know what's what until it's too late.

By: Meena Shah

Meena Shah — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:19:35 +0000

I think its amazing that he essentially failed at Joost and is leaving to go to the fund that backed it!! The VC's don't blame him for joost falling apart? If they don't that is refreshing.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:07:33 +0000

The future of online video content seems to be a phase where archive material is accessed at will. New programming will also be marketed alongside the archive material but it will difficult to introduce new popular programming (as the audience fragments even more extensively). So that means the archive material has a shelf life. The new stuff will have to be extremely good to break into the consciousness of the public to become big. So everything big, programming wise, has already been made.

VOD will have to compete with mashups of this archival material for eyeballs.
Joost should be in the business of developing a legal framework for mashing up tv and film material.

It could start in the music business by putting random tv content to music. Any content, any music. Slickly edited.
Surrealistic.
Sensational.

And then edit advertising messages into it…

By: wren

wren — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:15:34 +0000

Great that Mike landed on his feet at Index. He was lucky that 'a lot of people have been kind enough to express their interest in having conversations' I doubt the other Joosters will have as much to talk about. But WTF I guess they got their part of the Skype payday.