Running out of juice?
Joost, the online video company started up by the people behind Skype and Kazaa, has announced it's switching its business model from consumer facing to B2B.
It will now focus on providing white label online video platforms for media other media companies, having apparently lost out to NBC, Fox and ABC/Disney backed Hulu in the battle to be the online video-on-demand brand of choice.
The press release seeks to put a positive spin on the change in strategy, but the fact that the CEO - Mike Volpi - is stepping down and remaining only as chairman of the board, implies otherwise.
"Media companies around the world are embracing internet-based video portals as a key path to distribute their premium video, but building a world-class video portal is increasingly difficult and expensive," said the release. "Joost will focus on this issue and provide the market with a cost-effective, end-to-end solution for media companies to publish video under their own brands."
The current SVP of engineering - Matt Zelesko - will now double up as CEO. Joost's development centre in Leiden, halland, will be closed down and there will be a restructure of operations in its New York and London offices.
