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Video - Thursday, May 10, 2007

Why You Will Watch Joost

Look what we've got here. Joost just closed a mammoth $45M Series A round, with the blessing/backing of Viacom & its CBS division as well as Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Li Ka Shing Foundation. Here's why we are certain you'll be watching Joost:

1) More impressive than the platform, in our eyes is the deft BD work that landed Joost some big deals to get to the starting gate. There is so much A game content here its sick. Viacom alone has killer content. It doesn't matter who you are, Viacom has something for you, whether its Beavis and Butthead, Laguna Beach, Survivor, Face The Nation, or a Paramount Picture. Joost had also secured programming from Sony, Turner and Warner Brothers, as well as sports coverage of the National Hockey League and Indy car racing.

2) Joost founder Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström have their storied reputations on the line with Joost so we are sure they are not going to push the snooze button on this. Unlike US-based startups, these guys get the globe.

3) Faster video. Joost had some early tech glitches but their P2P model is a proven winner and should give us faster video connections.

4) The interface. It's beautiful. Everyone says so. You feel like you are in a classy joint. In contrast to YouTube and others, Joost displays in high definition on a full-screen platform, that is easily connected to your TV which users download, rather than watching in a browser window.

5) Commercials. Let's face it, people do care about the quality of commercials they are watching and Joost has already announced some big-league direct sponsors like Nike and Sony.

6) Because you don't want to live in a Monopoly world. Maybe Google's YouTube would be the dominant force in online video. Maybe its Apple. We all like to see an upstart get a chance to take on the incumbents.

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