Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

John Kawolsky — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:40:11 -0000

Did it not strike anyone else that choosing Mike Volpi, who was the head Cisco's Routing Group, for running a media company was not the wisest move?
Then again, Joost's early rival, Babelgum, elected an equally unlikely CEO in the person of Valerio Zingarelli, whose Telecom CTO credentials seem oddly out of place in the on-line content world...

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Fail — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:54:15 -0000

Sucks when projects don't get to recoup what you put in. Fail.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

chul park — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:14:22 -0000

Yes. I was impressed by Joost's technology at first but they failed. Who knows which service will be popular?

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Emilia — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:56:05 -0000

streamlining your efforts to be quick and simple, the less effort users have to put in the more likely they are to utilize its services. I feel that what makes the digital revolution so exciting is the risk involved in whether or not your project will take off. As Paul said its all execution, that and making sure you can sell said project the third party media giants.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

vikram bhaskaran — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:19:25 -0000

fair enough- looking back its easier to see how things COULD VE been, but sitting in the front seat, the daily hits and misses tend to cloud the vision...

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Nathan Snell — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:07:31 -0000

I would venture to say that one of the other reasons Joost really struggled was it originally promised to deliver a "social tv" experience, but did little to innovate the claim, besides embedded chat with a video (not exactly a "wow" factor).

All in all though, it was a good project with a good vision.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Joakim Vars Nilsen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:54:48 -0000

It was a very promising project. But failed due to lack of content, but most important: It was not browser based. Spot on!

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Matt — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:41:41 -0000

I disagree. Joost was never a good project. Yes it somehow created hype, but the content was never there. I remember getting into the beta, only to be disappointed with the lack of content and usability. This never changed and the system failed.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

gedcarroll — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:32:19 -0000

It didn't help that many of the channels didn't update or add new content on a regular basis, so once you had watched what you were interested in there wasn't a compelling reason to return.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Blake Robinson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:47:55 -0000

What I know is that there were/are plenty of good people at Joost who were/are amply capable of driving the business forward. I suppose sometimes a ship, even heavily funded, widely touted one, is simply ill-fated from the and there is little anyone can do to stop it from sinking.

Really is an unfortunate turn of events. I wonder where the speculation will lead this one.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Tim McKane — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:12:01 -0000

Perhaps the lack of cohesive marketing was at fault as well - no one really started talking about Joost outside the early adopters, it never got momentum, and needed some big hits to get going.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Ethan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:22:48 -0000

Joost's failure is a testament to how simplicity is central to engagement. Creating extra steps, in Joost's case it was a download, could be the tipping point and all the promise in the world cannot save your business.

-Ethan

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Ethan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:20:08 -0000

-Ethan
Sparxoo

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Josh Chandler — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:11:23 -0000

By not reacting quick enough to the arrival of Hulu, Joost did create their own demise. But, I wonder in part if the business model comparison between Hulu and Joost would show some notable issues on the part of Joost. I for one, much like Stan had extremely high hopes for this software, but haven't actually used it for over a year now. Particularly as more relevant and accessible content, in the UK came from both BBC and ITV via their online on demand video content players!

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

ARB4 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:21:45 -0000

Exactly.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Henre Rossouw — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:19:55 -0000

'Waiting' is a cardinal sin in technology it seems. BUT, of course, having it readily available as download 'in addition to' scores you brownie points :-)

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

HughBorg707 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:04:40 -0000

Something being "downloadable" as a liability really made me perk up and listen. I guess more and more people are reluctant to go through the motions and mechanics and just demand the ability to turn something "on" and go with it. I think that's one advantage of TV in content broadcasting. Just turn it on...

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

Henre Rossouw — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:55:56 -0000

Sometimes being visionary too soon proves to be your downfall. I believe AOL had similar visionary ideas which never came to fruition. Today it's common practice for big media houses.

@Paul Anthony - good point.

Re: The Joost Story: Sometimes, Good Projects Also Fail

software_critics — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:50:08 -0000

What an untimely end for Joost. It has gone to soon before it even reaps results for its efforts.