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pC Entertainment Video: Mark Suster On The Future Of TV

Amanda Natividad — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:00:12 +0000

It was a full day of discussions concerning the next steps in digital entertainment at our recent paidContent Entertainment conference, where Mark Suster, partner at GRP Partners, took the stage to present on the future of TV. Among his topics: what will speed up the evolution of TV, how the industry has become frogs in boiling water, and his unlikely bet on who the future distributors will be. More in Suster’s presentation and slides, both embedded below, and on his blog, BothSidesOfTheTable.com.

Mark Suster on the Future of TV

@ pcE11: Lessons Learned From Netflix And Others On New Digital Video World

Tom Krazit — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:04:09 +0000

The same kind of disruption that changed the tech is coming to television and films, warned panelists Thursday at paidContent Entertainment 2011. When the costs of producing content plummet at the same time demand for content has never been higher, a whole new class of entrants has a chance to make a splash.

But be careful, warned Mark Suster, partner at GRP Partners: “being too early is the same as being wrong.” Digital video technologies that aren’t quite ready for prime time can hurt a company’s brand and make it even easier for upstarts to find disgruntled customers.

Enter Exhibit A for how to rankle your customers: Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX). The panelists, who included Suster, Jason Deal of Initiative, William Quigley of Clearstone Venture Partners, filmmaker Jamie Patricof and Rick Allen of Snag Films (which announced two content deals earlier in the day at the conference) shook their collective heads at how Netflix bungled the goodwill they had earned over the years among both consumers and the entertainment industry in just a few short months.

Because of the disruption in costs and the need for big brands to have quality content associated with their brands, in a way, content is once again expensive, Quigley said. Netflix didn’t realize exactly how dissatisfied customers were with its streaming-only offerings and overjudged how quickly people would be willing to give up DVD service without the same quality available from the streaming side.

And to top it all off, filmmakers like Patricof weren’t making all that much money from Netflix in the first place, he said.

Video Interview: Mark Suster, GRP Partners, On Changing VC & Startup Land

Rafat Ali — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:00:58 +0000

Last week I was in Los Angeles, and met up with Mark Suster, General Partner at VC firm GRP Partners. A 2X entrepreneur with very successful exits, he is a relatively new VC, at least compared to the others in the industry, but has made a big mark out of the gate through his well-read blog Both Sides of the Table. I interviewed him about the changing VC landscape; the increasing activity on the seed/angel investing side; his new initiative with Launchpad LA; the LA startup scene vs Silicon Valley and New York; disrupting the established entertainment hierarchy in LA; sectors he likes, especially mobile and private shopping; future of Facebook and Twitter; and other issues. There’s a lot packed in the 25-minute video embedded below; make sure you listen till the end.