The player: Sean Barger, CEO of San Francisco-based software company Equilibrium
The play: Equilibrium works with major media and television companies such as AOL, Disney and Discovery to help them manage thousands of images and video assets that are often repurposed for Web sites and mobile devices, Mr. Barger said. The company makes money by licensing its software to media companies and will also add a revenue-sharing component when it rolls out at the National Association of Broadcaster’s conference in April a tool that will let content owners insert targeted ads in real-time into mobile and Internet video.
The pitch: Creating content quickly for new mediums is essential in this tight economy, Mr. Barger said. “By being able to quickly repurpose, reconfigure, recode and dispatch content to Web sites and mobile devices, content owners can keep Web and mobile viewers coming back for more fresh entertaining content,” he said.
In the mix: Equilibrium competes with companies as diverse as Harris and Image Folio. Equilibrium’s latest product will compete with services like Freewheel that insert dynamic video ads into content. Equilibrium’s customers include AOL, Disney, Discovery Communications, Omnicom, Sony, Universal and others. Ad agencies use the software to manage ad campaigns for their clients running on TV and in print. TV networks use the software to help promote new shows with local station partners.
The money guys: Founded in 1989, Equilibrium relaunched in 2004 and has since raised $3.5 million in venture funding from Celartem. The company plans to raise an additional $10 million and expects to be profitable next year.
The pros: With video proliferating on the Web and mobile phones at a rapid rate, media companies need solutions to manage the videos.
The cons: Competition is stiff in the video asset management business.
Background: Mr. Barger spent more than 20 years in management, engineering and production in the software industry. He’s been with Equilibrium since 1989 and prior to that handled the $120 mullion public software distribution company. He lives in Marin County, Calif.