Video is a trending (twitterology) topic these days and so I thought it would make for a fitting topic for our first roundtable event. From streaming, hosting, licensing, advertising, distribution, animation, creation, syndication, licensing, marketing, tracking, analytics, and much more video is now more popular than ever.
This trend is due to a number of factors, but a significant portion can be attributed to flash player technology, broadband access, and sharing of video by embedding code on blogs and web pages. In fact according to a recent report by eMarketer, a recent study conducted by Lightspeed Research states that “72% of US Internet users watched video clips monthly-making video bigger than blogging or social networking”. Truly an amazing stat and one that I would say goes somewhat unnoticed as video doesn’t create the same splash as social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
That is why we have 5 startups dealing with different aspects of video at our first roundtable event. The companies are @5min, @Aniboom, @Anyclip, @Bliptv, @Flixwagon, and potentially a few more startups will be joining in. The companies range from a movie clip database, mobile video broadcasting, virtual animation, web TV, and knowledge and instructional video. On the industry side we have executives from HBO, MTV, and Sony attending to discuss what they are currently doing and share some insight with the founders. Lastly, we have people coming from the investor side as we have Raj Das an active angel investor and CEO of Pom Partners a global digital media firm along with Phineas Barnes from Firstround Capital and Jeremy Levine from Bessemer Ventures.
The inaugural event will be full of lively discussions and insights as we have people from all sides talking about video and where it currently is and where it will be in the future. The founders are the ones that are leading the innovation and the Founders Roundtable is giving them a new platform to help them succeed.
As I have been attending a number of networking events in the NY area for a number of years and they all seem to be somewhat of the same. One big event with a lot of networking, with little follow through and results. Now I am somewhat familiar with networking events and I used to run networking events back in th stone age of Web 1.0 called the J2J Network. As great as these networking events are it seems that there is still a disconnect on how much one can gain from them. That is why I have decided to start a more intimate method of networking in the NY area. This is not a new method as roundtables exist in NY, CA, and many other places and I am not ashamed to say I am copying similar models.
The purpose of networking events is to meet people who can ideally help you or your company. To that point i know how difficult it is to start a company and network effectively. From the initial idea, to fleshing it out, to discussing it with friends, writing a business plan, developing product, capital raising, customer acquisition, public relations, and so much more. As you can see the list is extensive and I have found that networking and speaking with other entrepreneurs, VCs, angels, and industry leaders has been a tremendous benefit to me.
That is why I am creating the FoundersRoundtable which will meet once or twice a month, and brings together entrepreneurs to have breakfast and network with experienced peers, investors and others. The mission is to bring together startups from various sectors and have a sit down with VCs, angels, PR companies, marketing experts, and other leading high tech firms that can help a startup’s trajectory to success.
To that end the Founders Rountable fosters the following concepts:
Exchange: Open discussion with active participation from all attendees.
Intimacy: Select companies and individuals invites, approachable, accessible, and intense networking.
Content: Strong focus on fresh, current, and trending topics in high tech.
Experience: Helping companies succeed by using members experiences, networks, and knowledge.
