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Digital Dealmakers: Iain Molland

Oct 28, 2007  •  Post A Comment

The player: Iain Molland, CEO of Vividas USA
The play: Vividas offers streaming video technology that delivers high-quality video to a computer or to a television if the computer is connected to one. Consumers don’t need to install a player to watch the video; Vividas streams to existing players. “This is cross-platform,” Mr. Molland said. “It works on Mac and Windows. A player is delivered in the stream, so when you click to watch, it figures out on its own whether you are on a Mac or PC and it knows which player to deliver to ensure you get the best quality video.”
The pitch: The company’s secret sauce lies in its technology, which enables it to encode video into its proprietary delivery format and maintain high quality while distributing globally.
Essentially, the live streams don’t require much bandwidth to be delivered. “We can actually do full-screen quality at dial-up speeds,” he said. “We provide better-than-DVD quality to the desktop, to put your video, your film up online for sale in any market around the world. What we are doing is providing much easier access to content using the power of the Internet and the power of the PC.”
In the mix: Vividas has worked with Eurocinema, Sony Pictures and Fox Sports. For Fox, Vividas handles the live and on-demand streaming for the network’s broadband soccer channel, foxsoccer.com. Vividas’ competitors include other technology providers such as Move Networks that also focus on delivering high-quality video across the Web.
The backstory: Vividas was founded in 2000 in Melbourne, Australia, as a government-funded project to put high-quality video on CDs. Vividas moved into online streaming three years ago, focusing on corporate and entertainment clients, and has since expanded into sports and marketing communications. Mr. Molland joined the company in 2005 and became CEO of Vividas USA early this year.
The money guys: The company is now listed on the AIM market in the United Kingdom.
Pros: As consumers gravitate to higher-quality content online, Vividas is well positioned.
Cons: The online streaming business is still very new and media companies are trying to figure out the commercial model for content.
Background: Mr. Molland was born in Singapore and raised in Scotland. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management in England. He previously worked at MCI and Cable & Wireless. He lives in Ashburn, Va., with his wife and three kids. He is 45.
Who knew: Mr. Molland worked his way through college operating remote-controlled underwater vehicles in the oil and gas industry, tackling assignments in the North Sea and off the coast of Brazil.

6 Comments

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