I had the pleasure to recently interview Antoine Toffa, Founder and CEO, of VideoBloom.
Toffa has been in Colorado for 14 years, working as an Internet serial entrepreneur since 1996, after working as a GM for US West/MediaOne and Time Warner Interactive. His big success came with Trip.com that was sold to Galileo in 2000 for $326 million (Trip.com was subsequently merged with Cheap Tickets and bought by Orbitz).
Interestingly, on the same day of our conversation, it was announced that the third online video company would be shifting its business model or shutting down. The first’s assets, Revver, was sold off. The second, Stage6, and the second, VideoEgg, announced the shutting down of its publisher platform.
When asked how VideoBloom could continue to grow while other online video companies were folding, Toffa explained that VideoBloom is focused on providing a Software as a Service (Saas) through APIs, video players and templates to video-enable Web sites, online marketplaces, and directories with their own branding.
Toffa explains, “We are a boring company. Our focus is on enabling other companies to provide video, not to put ourselves front and center. This strategy, while not overly exciting has lead to some strong partnership and wonderful client relationships.”
They have also begun to provide production services via a network of videographers.
In this way, VideoBloom’s reliance on advertising revenues is zero, protecting them against the realities that doomed Revver, Stage6 and VideoEgg.
VideoBloom offers four products:
1) A white-labeled platform with variable pricing, which operates as a Saas, allows publishers to scale their online video needs with their traffic.
2) APIs from both a developer and a integrator perspective allows multiple member marketplaces to host video.
3) Brandable players with fully customizable skins and interfaces; and
4) Online video templates.
Here is an example of their video and integrated player.
It appears as the online video space continues to heat up, with the addition of streaming media players, VideoBloom is content to build a solid business focused on enabling others to deliver video content, rather than provide content as a primary business model. Why they may leave much of the buzz on the table, VideoBloom should continue to thrive with this “boring,” but solid business strategy.
