The quotes, and rollcall, are the best part of Constance Loizos’ somewhat meandering look at the online video (platform) market.
Looking for the next X, the MySpace of Y, and the del.icio.us of Z in two-dot-oh video sites harks back to the “Pets.com” (inter alia) debacles of Web One; there’s plenty of opportunity to create self sustaining businesses, but everything can’t win, and you can’t “YouTube” every concept.
Those groups creating entire environments, and rounded platforms, for digital audio-visual media including video are potentially being lost in the hype of revveryoutubenetscapebrightcove.
Some people are talking about the realities and the flipsides, such as Fred Wilson:
I have no idea if we are headed for another bust. I sure hope not. But having lived through the 2000 bust with a portfolio that was not “bust proof”, one of the things I think about all the time is how to build a “bust proof” portfolio.
Business 101 Assignment: Consider these VC/C-level-Exec viewpoints, via their notable-quotables, and design an investment portfolio that tracks, but bucks, the trends in order to avoid negative market confluence.
They still want to know that programs reflect the particular values of their product; you largely can’t get that right now at a YouTube.
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Despite what everyone in Silicon Valley likes to think, it’s not in advertisers’ interest to abandon broadcast and cable networks. That’s still where the money is.
Todd Chanko, JupiterResearch
[seeing] a huge move toward higher-end content because cheaper bandwidth and tools are making it more affordable to produce and distribute quality programming online.
Jason Pressman, Shasta Ventures
I don’t think it would be accurate to say that there’s a shift strictly to more quality video. Rather, I think there’s plenty of room for top-of-the-pyramid programming online and YouTube and lots of stuff in between.
Josh Bernoff, VP Forrester Research
I now spend about 60 percent of my time looking at video-related start-ups.
I invested as soon as I was invited to [in Revision3]. I would have liked a bigger piece of Revision3. It costs nothing to create these shows. They can just roll out a new program, and if no one likes it, they can try another.
Mike Maples, USD$15m microfund manager
Two years ago, I spent 20 percent of my time on the space. Today, I’d say I spend at least a third to a half of my time.
Jim Breyer, Accel Partners
I don’t want to announce anything until we’ve locked up what we want to do. But we may create derivatives of our core (TV and movie) programming and we may do some original programming.
Ross Levinsohn, CEO Fox Interactive
