TWiST, John Ham & Brad Hunstable of Ustream
Date: August 14, 2009
Guest: John Ham, CEO & Brad Hunstable, President – Co-founders of Ustream
Ustream.TV is the live interactive video broadcast platform that enables anyone with a camera and an Internet connection to quickly and easily broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size. In less than two minutes, anyone can become a broadcaster by creating their own channel on Ustream or by broadcasting through their own site, empowering them to engage with their audience and further build their brand.
Watershed is the private label version of Ustream’s proven and chosen Flash-based live, interactive broadcasting platform. Ustream’s technology has powered live broadcasting for Barack Obama’s campaign website as well as for numerous other high-profile partners. With Watershed, customers will be able to broadcast live on the Internet using a fully customizable player with a variety of different features and options including chat, privacy, and analytics. The product is an all-in-one, easily deployed self-serve solution for both large and small organizations. By using Watershed, customers will be able to build genuine communities and relationships around a shared online experience.
Special Announcement:
- Audible will be sponsoring the homework segment. www.audiblepodcast.com/twist
- No show Aug. 21st next show Aug. 28th
Ask Jason: (20 min.)
- Peter from Chicago, GeekStack, 99Designs contest.
- How does someone with 2 kids, a mortgage and a job create a startup? A year ago Jason would’ve said it will be very hard. Now that his wife is pregnant he believes it is possible. When you are young you are also naive and believe you can do these grand things. However, Evan Williams of Twitter is creating something and is a little older. You will need help, try finding someone like you that has done this before and may have some money to help you invest, define the scope of the project and your spouse must be onboard. Focus on planning, don’t react to the environment.
- Sean
- How important is it to finish school or get an advance degree? When hiring how important is education vs. experience? The greatest entrepreneurs didn’t go to school. However, there are skills you can learn in education, marketing, finance, etc. The fact is you will learn more on the job than anything in school go get an internship at a startup and be great, be humble and do what they ask no matter what. When hiring Jason likes humble and kick ass a degree is not the most important. John looks for character traits, relevancy and fit. For engineering, if you are good you are good; it isn’t about where you went to school.
Discussion: (08 min., cont. 45 min.)
- Ustream has an iPhone app that was approved by Apple. You basically have to create something and hope it gets approved.
- They started talking about it in summer 06 and launched Feb. 07, it was originally create to help soldiers communicate with family. They both went to West Point and served 5 years in the Army. The limitations the Army placed on them time wise and to communicate help the idea of Ustream, they wanted to create a one too many model.
- About 9 million viewers, service can be embedded.
- What is the business model? Ustream is for consumers and is an ad supported model and is working, bottom up growth. Watershed is the white label version for enterprises and is flexible for a product.
- Try get funding when the market is at a high valuation is basically double when the market is low.
- No Jimmy Wales comments from Jason unbelievable, Lon brought it up but not Jason.
- Brad and John, what would your employees say is the worst thing about working for you? Brad – unreasonable at time, high standards. John – can be intense, if we say we are going to do something, execute.
Questions: (52 min.)
To John & Brad:
- Was the last round (of funding) of only 2 million a down round? No, it was an option from the A round of funding for existing investors to reinvest.
- Mboyle, Does Ustream have plans to get into the set-top box market like Netflix and other internet video startups are aiming to? There is a lot happening in that market, we want to be in front of eyeballs, ultimately yes they want to be in the space.
The News: (55 min.) with Lon Harris
- Facebook purchases FriendFeed, if they use best practices from each, it is a good deal. Precursor to Facebook search. FriendFeed had too many features, they were great technologists but not good at branding and needed to put a halt to some of the features.
- Hollywood studios are trying to keep Redbox from getting new DVD’s right away, will this encourage piracy? Hollywood understands windows, Jason doesn’t like the idea he would rather pay a premium for movies that are still in theatre.
- Apple iPhone video (shot with a 9mm and burned), will people turn on Apple? Everyone at Apple is taking it to heart, I am sure they are saying who cares what the bloggers think. I think their should be a bill of rights for the purchaser. Some recognition so that third party companies can use their products.
- Graffitigeo, rate your town, things rise and fall like Digg but with a game aspect, it is a good idea? Yes, but Yelp will kill them, one feature doesn’t make the product, Yelp has a massive community.
- Boxee, received series B funding (6 mil.), long term goal to get into user TV’s and game consoles. Jason, I don’t know if I need Boxee. John, what exclusive content is on Boxee, why use them? John the cable guys and Directv know they have to do something to compete.
- Bing shopping network improving, in 4th place, up 169%, how do competitors respond? Not much they can do, Bing has momentum, Microsoft is trying something new.
- Radiohead only releasing downloadable singles, will albums die? Yes, most people buy singles and bands are catching up to user behavior. Jason likes a subscription model.
- TechCrunch 50, Penn and Teller launching a new consumer tech product, can you give us a hint? It is awesome, no hint.
- CheddarGetter, they handle all startup payments. Jason, good idea.
Dead Pool: (1:22)
- Bubbleshare
- Flickr too big to compete
Notable Quotes:
- (01 min) Jason, Message to Apple fanboys and girls, We spent 30 years of the industry trying to make it an open system the internet, applications, everything is open the reason why there is such colossal growth, is the reason why Ustream can do what they do, Mahalo does what it does, Twitter does what it does, is because of an open platform. Nobody will invest in a closed platform and if you do invest in a closed platform it will come back and bite you in the ass. There is no reason why Apple cannot make the iPhone a little more open. Have some objectivity and don’t be a sellout to the open internet and technology. (I shortened the quote a bit, listen to show for full quote)
- (13 min) John, There was a problem they were living it but not aware of it till they started talking about it.
- (38 min) Jason, The opposite of entrepreneurship is academia.
- (44 min.) Jason, I would give everything I have for 15 minutes with Osama Bin Laden.
- (1:00) Lon, Twitter is new, when you discover Twitter, it’s not like anything, it is sort of text messagy it’s sort of a lot of other things but it’s not anything you have used before you first use it you have that oh this is cool kind of moment, Facebook is really a continuation of Friendster and MySpace.
- (1:21) Jason, message to the young stupid people of the world, when you are work, do not do things that are illegal.
- (1:51) Jason, Always fight for your boss never argue the side of the vendor, if you are new never leave the office and not ask the boss if you can help out.
- (1:57) Brad, on your first day on the job if you are in a meeting don’t talk too much, watch, listen and learn.
Insights From Tyler!!!:
- (05 min.) Apple was built on fighting the machine, Steve Jobs was a rebel.
- (59 min.) FriendFeed was one of the few Twitter API partners that get the full version, now Facebook has access.
- (1:30) The reason Radiohead can do this is they are now independent and don’t have to produce an album like artists that are signed to a label.
Homework: (1:33)
- New assignment – The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
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