Q&A: KIT Digital’s Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
We’ve found it hard to find anything in common between the white-label video provider ROO Group and what it has become in the five months since new Chairman and CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman joined the company. It’s now called KIT digital, operates out of Dubai, has laid off significant portions of its staff, raised $15 million and acquired two companies to take it in new technical directions. ROO Group, the white-label video provider, is increasingly looking like a shell company for Chairman and CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, who joined the firm at the beginning of this year and quickly renamed it KIT digital. But in one of his first interviews since getting involved with the venture, Isaza Tuzman told us that he’s just aggressively honing the company’s core business: enterprise video for a global market. Isaza Tuzman previously was at JumpTV, KPE and govWorks (for which he was immortalized in the bubble documentary, Startup.com). In a phone interview yesterday, he told us about KIT’s acquisition of Stockholm-based Kamera, a mobile video company.
Isaza Tuzman also pitched KIT digital’s global strategy, during which he managed to criticize each of the major U.S. white-label video players for having a local focus. Meanwhile, Brightcove announced today the formation of a Japanese subsidiary with $4.9 million in funding, with three of its investors serving as local sales agents. So maybe he spoke too soon.
Isaza Tuzman also told us about dropping legacy ROO customers, KIT’s future acquisition possibilities, and why he shut down Wurld Media. Keep reading for an edited transcript of our conversation.
Update: Brightcove felt like they were described inaccurately in this interview, and I agreed, so I gave them the opportunity to respond. I am posting the full text of their reply in the comments (as it is rather long), but the core points are that Brightcove has large and well-known customers from all over the world who pay significant amounts of money for the service. Please do give the response a look.
NewTeeVee: So it’s clear there have been a lot of changes since you took over at ROO — new name, moving to Dubai, layoffs, hires, funding, acquisitions. My first question is, what has stayed the same?
Isaza Tuzman: The key product development team and software have stayed the same. The business processing software has stayed the same. But pretty much everything has changed. We’ve refined the business model — not just media and entertainment focus, but general Global 1000-type of brands. Sixty to 70 percent of our revenues are in Asia Pacific, 20 percent Europe, only about 7 percent in both North and South America. We’ve actually jettisoned 45 clients over the last four months even though we’ve increased revenue by 100 percent.
We really don’t want to compete with the Brightcoves and the Dailymotions, not that that’s a bad sector, but we’re really providing an enterprise software solution. Our average client today is doing about $20,000 month and before I joined it was about half that. Brightcove last reported $225 a month.
NewTeeVee: What do you think are the company’s core technology assets?
Isaza Tuzman: Everything from pretty traditional content management to the back end, all the APIs for social networking, streaming, storage. With the acquisition of Kamera it also gives us publishing capabilities to mobile. If you look at browser codecs there are just three — Flash is 90 percent of the market; Windows 10 percent; RealNetworks, 5 percent. With mobile there are 20 different codecs. Kamera has about 40 different major mobile operators that are in the telco space that they deliver and integrate the software into. It’s the same thing we do, but the codec and transcoding cabilities are appropriate to mobile. They do both off-deck and on-deck mobile.
I think that mobile really differentiates us, and that was the plan from when I came on, especially in the European and Asian markets. U.S. mobile video use is infinitesimal compared to the rest of the world.
NewTeeVee: Who do you expect your customers to be, going forward?
Isaza Tuzman: Different brands have different needs. General Motors, which we do a lot of work with, they don’t produce a lot of their own video content. For them they didn’t have an internal video CMS system, whereas a Verizon or a News Corp. would have that.
NewTeeVee: As you start getting more involved with these branding sites, are you engaging with advertising agencies?
Isaza Tuzman: I think that prior to new management’s arrival we had developed a conflict of interest — I mean a channel conflict — with advertising agencies, because we had an ad sales team. We’ve eliminated that conflict and are now working pretty actively with agencies. We’re a software company in interactive agency clothing, but really at the end of the day we’re providing software. In Asia we just created a partnership with an agency, and I would foresee doing Europe next.
NewTeeVee: So who are the ROO customers that you mentioned that you had dropped?
Isaza Tuzman: Entirely the small customers that you probably wouldn’t even know, kind of the profile that Brightcove works with. It’s not that I think that’s a bad business, it’s just not our sweet spot. We dropped about 40 clients that were doing probably a couple thousand dollars a month.
NewTeeVee: Do you expect you’ll continue to serve old ROO customers like FOX?
Isaza Tuzman: Of course, News Corp is one of our top four or five clients. We’ve actually expanded our business with them in the last month. With News Corp.’s multipoint publishing needs, assets around the world, it really is an appropriate client for us. Other examples would be Verizon, Sony Universal, IMG.
NewTeeVee: Do you think you’ll acquire any more companies in the near term?
Isaza Tuzman: We’re really focused right now on integration. You might see us do something around streaming capability, where we currently work with Pando and Abacast and Akamai. Not one of those companies, but another with those assets.
NewTeeVee: But didn’t you have assets like that when you joined ROO because of its acquisition of Wurld Media?
Isaza Tuzman: I was obviously never with Wurld Media; I shut that down. I don’t want to speak pejoratively, but Wurld Media was attempting to do peer-to-peer streaming technology, and I didn’t see that being a core part of research and development for what we are doing. I’m more talking about nodality, a company that would have nodes set up already that we could plug into.
NewTeeVee: So you mentioned that you don’t think you compete with Brightcove, but who else is your competition?
Isaza Tuzman: All of our markets have competition, often less evolved than in the U.S. In the U.S., or North America, there are so many VC-backed companies that are willing to do business at a loss, and I understand why that exists in the ecosystem, none of us are curing cancer, none of us are developing new ways of fabricating silicon wafers — you’re talking about enterprise software that doesn’t require a dozen engineers in Ukraine. I’m very cash flow-oriented and business-oriented at this juncture.
NewTeeVee: Where do you see this market going?
Isaza Tuzman: I think it’s a pretty straightforward business. If we could get to 200-300 customers out of the Fortune 1000, I think we would have a billion-dollar company, and that would be our big, audacious goal.
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[...] KIT Digital was previously more focused on non-American markets, but The FeedRoom would give it a leg up in the U.S. KIT has acquired quite a few companies in the [...]
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Isaza where is all the money that ROO took from Peer Impacts customers and why cant we play our music any more (DRM Sucks) if you Shut Wurld Media down …..
I know your reading so can you answer that question seeing that no one from ROO would never get back to me when I called them or emailed them…..
Hey Liz,
You know I like your reporting, but I think this particular write up went way, way too soft on KIT and didn’t include enough facts. KIT made too many statements in the interview as if they were facts and were not challenged on them.
Brightcove has never reported that their average client spends $225 a month. It’s a nice marketing statement for KIT Digital to make, but that’s all it is. Brightcove’s average customer does not spend $225 a month and they have never reported any such number. I challenge the CEO of KIT Digital to back up his statement with a link that proves those numbers.
Taking a shot at Brightcove as this small company who has customers no one has heard of doing a few hundred dollars a month is just dumb. Brightcove has over 4,000 customers, how many does KIT have? Brightcove has some of the most well-known content creators in the space, especially when compared to KIT, yet KIT wants to dismiss Brightcove as some small player with customers we don’t know. I can name at least a dozen big Brightcove customers off the top of my head, I can’t name one KIT customer. In the last six months, KIT has announced only one customer to the media who is based in Australia. Only 7% of their revenue comes from the U.S., a market they have abandoned, yet they want to say they are better than Brightcove in the same market?
The article didn’t mention that for months now, no one can get any real details on the KIT Digital site about what they offer? No demos. No product sheets. No case studies. Nothing. That would be fine except that they called Brightcove out at least twice in the article for being a small player, yet they don’t even have the basics on their website.
When you asked, “Who do you expect your customers to be, going forward?” he didn’t even answer it. He said customers have different needs but didn’t even say what vertical the customers would be coming from.
The CEO says, “If you look at browser codecs there are just three — Flash is 90 percent of the market; Windows 10 percent; RealNetworks, 5 percent.” First of all, those are not browser codecs. He does not even use the terms correctly. Second, where is that data from? And when he says “we’ve increased revenue by 100 percent”, over what period of time is he talking about? Again, lots of vague statements.
No one put any trust in ROO when they were around. It was all talk, lots of marketing fluff, a confused product offering, no focus, a company that was run from abroad and very little revenue. What’s changed? New management who does not grasp the market, makes inaccurate statements about other vendors, runs things remotely from Dubai, gives no info on their website and to date, has no clear vision. I can’t even find a statement on their home page of what they are? The website makes a reference to IPTV solutions, the CEO says they are focused on “enterprise software” but also says “mobile really differentiates us” and also says they do “content management”, “ASPs for social networking”, “streaming” and “storage”. But then he says “at the end of the day we’re providing software”. That’s about an un-focused as you can get.
He also says, “there are so many VC-backed companies that are willing to do business at a loss”. Right now, KIT Digital is doing everything at a loss, but we’re suppose to look past that why? And worst of all. They did $3.5 million in Q1 revenue yet stated at the end of the interview they could be a “billion-dollar company” with “200-300 customers out of the Fortune 1000″.
Who can’t see through all of this hype? It’s ROO all over again.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the criticism. I do think it’s important to let KIT and Isaza Tuzman speak for themselves to an extent — like you said, it’s really hard to tell what’s going on around the company. And it’s nice to hear it in his words rather than me prettying it up.
A couple notes: He did specify verticals, I ended up cutting those for space. Also, I criticized the lack of info on the company website and he promised a new version would be much better.
However, regarding Brightcove, you’re right, I let Isaza Tuzman get off a few too many potshots, and I’ll correct those items. I’m talking to Brightcove about that right now.
Thanks,
Liz
It’s obvious Rayburn hates Roo/KIT. Maybe has to do with the fact they are Dubai based, don’t know.
Liz, I think it is totally unfair to refer to the company as a “shell” for the CEO.
This is an insult to the sputnik Agency people who lace it up every day working for their clients.
Rayburn would be well served to visit the site and look at their recent client wins.
Instead of shilling for Brightcove and defending a company that did not even ask for his help, he should do some research on KIT and refine his argument.
I suggest neither of you have studied the recent SEC filings. Perhaps you should.
Disclaimer- Roo/KIT shareholder, not affiliated with the company.
No coincidence the stock dropped 12% off it’s high of the day with large sell orders sitting on the ASK at almost the same time Rayburn’s comment was posted.
Hermes reported today they took a 5% stake in Kit Digital today, purchasing over 2 million shares.
The market it seems prefers the uninformed opinion of an industry writer to professional investment houses?
I respectfully suggest you reword the first paragragh of your blog post.
According to defintitions I pulled from the web the term “shell company” is defined by some as follows;
—Definitions of shell company on the Web:
a corporation without assets such as those established by white-collar criminals in bond swindles, money-laundering operations, mutual-fund …
http://www.asisonline.org/library/glossary/s.xml
A limited company that has never started, or has ceased its trading activities (eg a subsidiary transferring its business to its parent or a fellow subsidiary), but has not been dissolved. Annual returns are still filed, but the accounts state that the company did not trade during the year. …
http://www.payontime.co.uk/collect/collect_glossary_s.html–
I suggest too the stock was potentially materially affected by a combination of your referrence of the company as a “shell” and the follow up comment by Mr. Rayburn.
If myself, Liz or any other reporter affects a stock price based on reporting real facts, then we did our job. You are also confusing facts, with opinions
I don’t see any of you shareholders arguing with any of the facts I posted. Can any of you show us where Brightcove announced their customers spend on average $225 a month? Can you back up, with references many of the things the CEO is quoted as saying? We’re reporters, we want to see facts, not marketing statements.
I have visited the site, where are the links to their “customer wins”? Case studies? Product sheets?
Liz and I own no shares in KIT, so we have no vested interest in having to “hate” any company.
This is a great article, awesome job Liz. It is feeling alot like Techcrunch, I just submitted on Digg and the Twitter nation.
Actually Dan I thought you were an analyst not a reporter. Your analysis of Kit Digital today in the comment section above may indeed have moved the stock.
Not sure if your negative commentary or Liz’s comment about it being a possible shell company is more harmful.
Both were very unfair.
Let’s examine your comment.
“Taking a shot at Brightcove as this small company who has customers no one has heard of doing a few hundred dollars a month is just dumb. Brightcove has over 4,000 customers, how many does KIT have?”
If you read their recent press releases you would know they claim as clients;
K-Mart
NASDAQ
Sensis
NYPost
The Sun
Just to name a few.
You said;
” I can name at least a dozen big Brightcove customers off the top of my head, I can’t name one KIT customer”
http://kit-digital.com/news/launched.aspx
You also asked;
““Who do you expect your customers to be, going forward?” he didn’t even answer it”
I suspect for competitive reasons he will not tell a blogger, or any journalist who he is courting. As a shareholder I consider this as prudent.
You say;
“He also says, “there are so many VC-backed companies that are willing to do business at a loss”"
He is right isn’t he?
Finally.
“Right now, KIT Digital is doing everything at a loss, but we’re suppose to look past that why? And worst of all. They did $3.5 million in Q1 revenue yet stated at the end of the interview they could be a “billion-dollar company” with “200-300 customers out of the Fortune 1000″.
Who can’t see through all of this hype? It’s ROO all over again”
This is the core of my gripe with your commentary. The CEO has claimed consistantly since he came on board in January that he sees the compnay becoming profitable by the end of the year.
This is mentioned in more than one SEC filing.
Who would believe this hype? Investors with an eye on the sector that understand B2B web video solutions providers can’t keep up with the demand of the market.
Perhaps you read the recent revelation that 50% of the Fortune 1,000 don’t have video on their sites.
You should know this is pure opportunity for players like KIT and Brightcove.
Why did he take shots ay Brightcove? I am guessing to stir up some discussion, perhaps grab some attention.
I don’t speak for them, I am only a small investor holding some shares in RGRP.ob.
In the course of trying to get some attention I doubt he intended to be called a shell and untrustworthy.
If anyone has a blog, and they are reporting on news, as a business, they are a reporter.
You listed 6 KIT customers but still didn’t answer the question. How many does Kit have compared to Brightcove?
You say “The CEO has claimed consistantly since he came on board in January that he sees the company becoming profitable by the end of the year.” I didn’t question anything about being profitable. I questioned the Billion dollar statement. So good try in trying to deflect the statement he made, the one I questioned, which you did not address.
So you are saying, that as an investor in the company, you think it is good practice for Kit to made inaccurate statements about another vendor in the space in the hopes of “trying to get some attention”. That’s a poor way for any company to try and get attention.
I have no vested interest in KIT, I don’t need to try and convince anyone of anything. If Kit does or does not make money, I don’t benefit either way. You own shares so you have a vested interest in trying to highlight the company. Conflict of interest.
Hey just a couple of comments — I described ROO, not KIT, as giving the appearance of a “shell company.” If you read the paragraph I do believe this makes sense in context.
Also, the price drop in ROO’s OTC stock couldn’t have had anything to do with Dan’s comment, as he posted after 3 p.m. Pacific time — well after close of market.
That said, carry on.
@Liz: “That said, carry on.” ouch, nicely done.
Correct about Dan’s comment being made after market close I thought your blog posted EST.
Your suggestion that;
“ROO Group, the white-label video provider, is increasingly looking like a shell company for Chairman and CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman”, stands on its own.
Clever spin saying that it does not mean what it says. Part of becoming a better writer means admitting mistakes, then correcting them.
I’m not fan of the previous management team but some would take offense that they are referred to as operators of a “shell company” in any case.
I think you owe it to your readers, the company and their shareholders to spend a little more time researching the company.
I await your next post.
Dan said;
“Kit to made inaccurate statements about another vendor in the space in the hopes of “trying to get some attention”. “
You were quick and willing to come to the aid of the competitor. Brightcove is a rather silent company, I learned tonight they have roughly 4,000 clients. Good info.
” I questioned the Billion dollar statement. So good try in trying to deflect the statement he made”
Huh? Deflect? That’s not the way I operate. I’m not a tricky blogger trying to gain readership.
The billion dollar statement-
Pretty exciting. Recall Maven was sold to Yahoo! for $160m last year.
As an investor I’ll settle for that. I’m not greedy. That would take the stock to approximately 10 times the current value.
Will it? Who knows, everyone in the stock market must be prepared to lose it all.
As for conflict of interest comment. That is not true at all. All I am doing here in correcting inacuracies presented as truths. Some people think bloggers “know” just because they publish.
You must admit your understanding of the company has been elevated tonight.
My apologies for the suggestion you moved the market.
Still no response from Isaza Tuzman on what happened to the Money that Peer Impact’s retail customers had thier accounts and why the DRM servers where shut down without notice on the day ROO / KIT Digital aquired Wurld Media …..no wonder on one is interested in investing in this company .
Hi,
I worked for ROO and currently working for Kit-digital.
I have met Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, and he is a complete dick in person. He says one thing, then we find out a week later it was a lie.
This company will be going nowhere fast. I much rather work for bightcove, or a different streaming video company than this one
Well anonymous, you certainly are keeping with the theme of the blog.
For awhile now this blog has been a place to vent for ex Wurld Media types with a grudge.
What a shame you guys get a platform that ranks so well on Google.
This thread is nothing to be proud of Liz.
Here is the full text of the email response I got from Adam Berrey, SVP Marketing & Strategy, Brightcove:
Hi. I hope you’re doing well. There are a few things that Isaza said about Brightcove in yesterday’s interview that are either misleading or untrue, so I thought I’d write a quick note to clarify the facts:
First, it was a bit odd to see Brightcove and Dailymotion put together as if they had the same business models, since the reality is that we’re completely different. Dailymotion is a consumer video sharing site. They are a media business that makes their money selling advertising. Brightcove is an Internet TV platform. We have a software as a service (SaaS) business model, and we don’t run a consumer video sharing site. We also don’t sell advertising. I have a lot of respect for the work that Benjamin and his team are doing at Dailymotion, but Brightcove does something entirely different.
Isaza suggested that our average customer is paying Brightcove $225 a month. Luckily, this isn’t even close to true. While we don’t publish information about pricing and revenue, it’s safe to say that our average platform customer is paying us well north of $225 per month.
In the interview Isaza suggests that Brightcove’s customers are “… the small customers that you probably wouldn’t even know….” This is absurd given that we work with hundreds of the best known media companies and marketers in the world. You can see a selected list of Brightcove customers on our website, which speaks for itself. There are also detailed video case studies of what Brightcove customers have done with our platform.
Finally, there was a subtle implication that Brightcove is both small and not focused on the global market. We are in fact large by most standards. On any given month more than 135 million monthly unique Internet users access players published through our platform. In addition to the strong presence we have in the US, we count most of the major broadcasters, magazine publishers and national newspapers in the UK as our customers, as well as major brands across Europe. As you mentions in the beginning of the article, we just announced the formation of Brightcove KK, with four strategic partners that represent the largest advertising agency, advertising network, and media content delivery network in Japan.
I hope that helps clarify the inaccuracies about Brightcove. For folks that are interested, there is a lot more information about what we do, our service, and our customers on the Brightcove website.
Selling snake oil says MisKIT? You have to be kidding me with that comment.
Take a look at the client list of Kamera, the company KIT just closed on.
The lack of due diligence conducted by the combined anti-Roo/KIT commentators on this thread is astounding. The three of you are industry writers no less, you three are an embarrassment truly.
Liz, first you invite a CEO for an interview, and in the opening statement imply you are happy to be his first interview since becoming CEO, and in the same paragraph offer the suggestion he runs a “shell company”.
Rayburn quick to the aid of Brightcove which is curious and offers this example of lack of knowledge;
“” I can name at least a dozen big Brightcove customers off the top of my head, I can’t name one KIT customer”
This is incredible to me.
As a shareholder who holds a few shares of KIT stock I am outraged at the unfair and biased treatment of the company by Giga OM Media company.
I would ask the operators of this company if they would appreciate similar treatment of their efforts if they were publicly traded?
Mike got duped by buying KIT stock ;) or is he a pump and dumper? ….thats about the level KIT stock is at.
Matt, your motivation seems clear, you have an issue with Wurld Media and I hope you get your back pay from them.
You are not one of the three I was referring to.
While your beef is misplaced at least you have a legitimate gripe against someone. The three IPTV sector writers in this thread have no reason to attack the company, CEO or stock.
Shoddy journalism, period.
Mike I was never a employee of Wurld Media I was a customer and I was told by some former ROO/KIT Staff members. that they where trying to resolve the issue of downloads that no longer worked and refunding the money in our Peer Impact accounts after Wurld Media was acquired by ROO /KIT Media .But Iszaza closed the Wurld Media /Roo Bussiness Solutions unit down before that could be resloved .ROO also have all the customer personal data and credit card information that I dont know what they are going to do with that they also aquired via the sale of Wurld media .
If they cant abide by the Terms of Service that was written in the Peer Impact user agreement I dont see how they can do business with Fortune 500 companies .
ROO Puchased Media 5 Million dollars and then shut it down ……great waste of thier investors money even if Mr Tuzman wasn’t involved but me and others will continue to disparage this company till they will do what is right and fix up the mess they inherited from Wurld Media .
“even if Mr Tuzman wasn’t involved but me and others will continue to disparage this company till they will do what is right and fix up the mess they inherited from Wurld Media ?
So you believe unsubstantiated cheap shots, like the shell company slap, or knocking the CEO personally will get someone to pay old debts?
I believe the court system is the place for that. It also sounds like it is not the responsibility of the new CEO.
I hope you get whole, really, but bashing the CEO, company and stock is the wrong tact.
Mike if it hurts their stock the Investors will ask the company to fix things ……there’s more ways to ruin a company than through the court system and new media is one very effective tool to ruin a companies reputation or give praise to a company very quickly and no CEO or PR agent can sugar coat any problems with the now accepted pervasiveness of the Internet.
“The Nuclear Option” Mark Pesce on the power of the New Internet ;)
http://blog.futurestreetconsulting.com/?p=48
http://www.viddler.com/explore/nickhodge/videos/3/
I’m not “quick to the aid of Brightcove”. I am quick to point out someone in the industry who lies to make their company look better than another without providing any of the details to back it up. Based on Brightcove’s response, we see that the CEO of KIT was lying. And worse yet, he said Brightcove “reported” that number, yet they never did. Anyone who follows this industry knows the moment they read that how false it was.
I’ve been in this industry almost 15 years. I am not going to let anyone try to get away with using a bunch of marketing terms and lies to try and get ahead in the market.
As an investor, you should be worried that the CEO is lying in an interview and making false statements. Instead, you’re mad at reporters for pointing it out.
As to your second question:
“I would ask the operators of this company if they would appreciate similar treatment of their efforts if they were publicly traded?”
I can say that if I was the CEO of any company, public or not, and I went on record making false statements and lies about others in the industry – I would expect to be held accountable, including up to being fired. If you can’t be honest in business, then you should not be in a position to lead a company.
Dan-
I suspect there is something deeper going on here considering your prolonged attack of KIT Digital on this thread.
Your lack of research concerning KIT’s clients, even though their client list is easily found with one or two clicks leads me to suspect this.
I seriously doubt your research skills are that unrefined.
My opinion is this is personal, that you are possibly looking out for the Brightcove backers maybe?
I mean, your attacks are all over the place, your dislike, hate, angst whatever is undeniable all considered.
Almost as if you are trying to convince someone.
Please correct me if my opinion is misplaced.
In any case this is dangerous “journalism” if you ask me.
Finally, a journalist, once presented with facts first overlooked would go back and revisit the subject.
You have certainly been pointed to new facts about Roo/KIT.
Should we expect a more fair representation next time you refer to the company?
Time will tell but all considered I am not holding my breath.
PS; or maybe you’re pissed Tuzman gave the interview to the GigaOm people instead of your site?
…and Dan-
“I can say that if I was the CEO of any company, public or not, and I went on record making false statements and lies about others in the industry – I would expect to be held accountable, including up to being fired. If you can’t be honest in business, then you should not be in a position to lead a company.”
Would that apply to a “reporter” for a company that referred to a publcly traded compnay as a “shell company”?
So Matt, use the new media to spread ill will when you have a gripe.
The court system works fine if someone has a claim and can find an attorney to take the case.
In a sense you are piggybacking on anything negative said about the company anywhere. That’s sad in my opinion.
Liz and GigaOM,
This blog post is already ranked #3 on Google for the search term “Kit Digital”. Your opinion that the company was or still is a “shell company”, is one of the first things a person will read if they are looking to buy the stock or do business with the company.
This cannot be denied as Google commands almost 7 of every 10 search query.
Regardless of how you explain away your reasoning Liz I view this as harmful to the company and their shareholders.
I intend to inform the SEC by certified mail on Tuesday of this accusation.
You can play reporter all day and night talking about start ups and industry personalities but you crossed the line here in my opinion.
Also as a shareholder I will urge the company to pursue action against your corporation if they feel their reputation has been injured.
It’s tough enough for investors in this market without ‘reporters’ taking unresearched pot shots at their investments.
Interesting conversation going out there … Brightcove says “On any given month more than 135 million monthly unique Internet users access players published through our platform.”
Now according to this http://newteevee.com/2008/05/20/nielsen-us-video-streams-up-9-in-april/ they would do way more than Youtube. Lets say 50% are US-based (though they only serve ads in the US and UK) that would make Brightcove as good as Yotube !
I guess Brightcove wants to say 135 million streams a month.
Liz, I would like company telling how many streams (as defined by initiated video plays if they like) they do on a monthly basis.
Companies tend to mislead viewers and playing with numbers to describe their business. Let’s hope Brightcove sets this one straight which I doubt they ever will .
Complaint filed. You should just take that wording out Liz. Better now than after being told.
You have no right to harm someone’s investment.
Where are your editors?
BTW, FuzzyB, watch it, this is Brightcove country here.
THE THIRD RAIL
Dear Readers.
After all of these years of tech economy cycles and corporate restructuring work, I am still getting used to the vitriol and personal attacks that inhabit the world of blogging (although of the “meglomaniac”, “dick” and other labels in this blog, I think “MisKIT” was the most creative ☺).
I also know that the downsizing that we went through after new management has come onboard (which has involved a nearly 40% reduction in staff and closing of several offices and business units) can understandably lead to some angry voices.
I have only been at ROO/KIT for a few months and my inclination is generally not to participate in this kind of dialogue, but a number of employees and several shareholders have asked me to publish a response to some of the comments made in the NewTeeVee blog, and in particular issue corrections/clarifications where appropriate.
I mean no one personal offense by any of my responses/clarifications below, and I am available to anybody on this blog at kaleil@kit-digital.com if you’d like to discuss any of the points in detail.
I apologize in advance for the length of this posting. I wanted to ensure a comprehensive response.
First, major corrections/clarifications:
• CRITICIZING DOMESTIC FOCUS: The intro to the interview states that I “managed to criticize each of the major U.S. white-label video players for having a local focus.” This is a mischaracterization. I pointed out that the focus of the major players in the space (Brightcove, Maven, thePlatform, etc.) has historically been the U.S., and that our main focus at KIT digital is outside of the U.S. This is a statement of fact, not a criticism, and actually was followed up by a self-effacing explanation that in the past ROO has “pretended to be a U.S. company” when in reality its roots and largest revenue base are in the Asia/Pacific zone (but this explanation was cut from the blog transcript).
The fact that broadband activity in general and interactive marketing in particular is growing more quickly outside than inside the U.S.—in places like Asia—is also not country-bashing; it’s an economic reality. For the record (and it’s sad that I have to say this, since Liz’s blog has resulted in more than a few ethnic slurs into my mailbox—including my favorite, “camel washer”), I was born in Boston and am a proud American citizen. I also happen not to be Muslim, though I am perplexed why this would be of relevance to tech bloggers or blog readers. Also, I don’t run the company “remotely” from Dubai. Dubai is our corporate headquarters, where I sit with a talented team of Americans, Brits, Australians, Filipinos and others who come to work every day passionate about their jobs, and to whom some of the comments in this blog were really over the top. We also have great, committed team members for example in Melbourne, Singapore, Stockholm, London, and Toronto. We have a terrific group in our NY office as well, and the fact that we have employees on the ground serving customers in other countries does not make us “anti-American”, as one angry writer put it. As a a global free-trader, I think that as soon as we start thinking this way, we really set ourselves back as a country.
• CRITICIZING BRIGHTCOVE: The interview and follow-on commentary implies that I somehow insulted Brightcove. I did no such thing. I actually went out of my way to say that I admire Brightcove and see Brightcove as a pioneer in the space, but these comments were not reflected in the transcript (keep in mind that Liz and I spoke for about 35 minutes, so she had to significantly edit the conversation for blogging purposes—which I respect and understand).
Anyway, I said two things—neither of them insults to Brightcove—that seem to have really elicited a violent response from Brightcove and Brightcove supporters (as a side note, I think bloggers and posters who are currently or have in the past directly received money from Brightcove for PR, advertising, conferences, blogging, research, etc. should post this disclaimer in the same way KIT digital shareholders posted their ownership on the blog—you know who you are, guys ☺ )
1) That Brightcove has small clients on average, and
2) That Brightcove has in the past reported charging these clients $225 per month on average.
I stick by both of these comments, and I would add that neither of them are negative regarding Brightcove (maybe part of the confusion arose from the fact that the “average” word was dropped in one case from the interview transcript and in the other case it seems to have been glossed over by commentators).
With respect to the first statement: Brightcove has at least 4,000 customers (that’s the number referenced by several Brightcove supporters in the blog but many of us in the industry have heard Brightcove’s CEO and other Brightcove representatives mention higher numbers at industry conferences and in smaller, business meeting settings—as recently as the MIP conference in April). Some of those customers are large, I know. But on average, they are small. I don’t think that’s very debatable statistically, especially when we know that Brightcove has had a (genuinely well thought-out and openly expressed) world domination strategy that has involved deploying a lot of video players gratis or at de minimus payment levels for a period of time with clients. Again, none of this is an insult to Brightcove.
By any metric, Brightcove has terrific market share, and their software-as-a-service “SaaS” model is built on standardization and wide deployment. KIT digital’s model, on the other hand, is custom development and large enterprise-oriented—again, this is not a claim that our model is better, it’s just different. (In the same way that explaining that our focus is on international as opposed to domestic clients is not a claim to be smarter or better, it’s just an explanation of our business efforts.)
With regard to the second statement, on average monthly revenue per client: when I was considering making a personal investment in the B2B video-over-IP enablement industry last Summer and Fall (2007), I managed to look at a lot of business plans and financing documents—including those of Brightcove, Dailymotion, Narrowstep, FeedRoom, Maven and others—in some cases to formally evaluate a possible investment and in others cases for general diligence purposes. I ended up deciding to invest in ROO because: (a) I liked the software, (b) I liked the international focus (where I see more growth in interactive marketing spending in the coming years), and (c) the entry price for the investment was quite attractive (it still is, in my view). The Brightcove documents that I saw at the time reported revenue levels and client number levels that, when doing straight math and dividing one by the other, resulted in approximately $225/month. Now, I know Brightcove has changed its model once or twice over time, so maybe things have changed in terms of revenues-per-client generically, or maybe some of the free video player deployments are no longer used in the client numbers in the denominator (which might explain the variability on client numbers you sometimes hear at conferences and from Brightcove salespeople).
Brightcove is a private company, which makes these sorts of dialogues (your-numbers-are-worse-than-my-numbers) kind of unfair vis-à-vis public companies like KIT digital. But the easiest way for Brightcove to clarify this issue would be simply to state their client #’s and their monthly revenues, or publish their last internal financing document (public companies like KIT digital are forced to publish their financial results and financing prospectuses, though it clear to me that neither of the main writers involved in the NewTeeVee blog did that research) instead of getting so upset. Despite all the anger expressed at my comment by Brightcove supportes, I suspect with full disclosure we’ll find that I am not too far off even today. On the KIT digital side, our numbers (both of clients and monthly revenues) have been fully disclosed in recent press releases and SEC filings—around 200 (including content clients) and $2 million, respectively, on a fully consolidated basis with our recent acquisition of Kamera. Several bloggers seemed to imply that we have not disclosed these numbers, but they are actually available through the finance section of every major Internet portal and the SEC’s website.
Finally, in answer to the “I have never heard of KIT digital’s clients” comments, we are a white-label business, so we only issue press releases for new customers where it makes sense for the customer and/or is a material new client (which is a very high bar) from an SEC disclosure perspective. Therefore, you won’t see a ton of commercial press releases from us, but our clients include Verizon, General Motors, MSN, Vodafone, Fidelity, RCS, Sensis, NASDAQ, Coles, China Mobile, K-Mart and other major corporations. These names are available on our website, and also in a number of SEC filings.
The legislator Tip O’Neill said many years ago that Social Security was the “third rail of American politics”, because of the entrenched interests and extraordinary lobbying pressure in its support. If you even implied that the SSA was imperfect, you were eviscerated—even though most voters and nearly all congressmen know in their heart of hearts that the current system may bankrupt the treasury someday. It seems that Brightcove is the third rail of streaming media. Even though everyone in the industry knows that Brightcove has burned through as much or more money than its competitors, has struggled and changed business models at least once (welcome to the club, no insult intended here) and has been trying to beat out competition for years by placing free video players and doing loss-leading business, mentioning these things out loud with even the HINT of criticism leads to evisceration. As I have said before, I admire Brightcove (and think that its historical U.S.-focus and market share-oriented strategy are legitimate and have largely worked). I just think its hard to swallow when a private company argues so vociferously about info they put out to investors—when it doesn’t have to nor does it report its investments, losses, clients, etc. to the public—and then goes on the attack (either itself or through its proxies) on small public companies living in the same marketplace and facing the same commercial realities. The Queen’s comment in Hamlet comes to mind: “the lady doth protest too much”. ☺
If you are feeling badly at all for Brightcove right now, or feel that I have been overly aggressive in my comments (with which I would strongly disagree), try reading the feature interview with Brightcove’s CEO in MIPCOM’s glossy newsletter from last month, in which he blasts all of his competitors (ROO included) in undeniably nasty (and I would say ultimately insecure) language. Then look in the back and find out who was a major corporate sponsor of the newsletter. I know for fact that things like this bother a lot of my peers, but many of us are scared to speak out for fear of the type of retaliation you get subjected to (this blog to wit). Reminds me of what would happen if you spoke out about Akamai’s marketplace two year ago…
• SHELL COMPANY: I respect differences of opinion and actually see personal attacks/insults as the cost of doing business in the bitterly competitive small-cap new economy today—especially when touching the “third rail” of streaming media. ☺ But this “shell company” comment was really not fair. I don’t know what definition of a shell company Liz was applying here, because KIT digital would foot with none of them: we have an operating business that generates revenues and (sadly, still) an operating loss. The business employs people in a half dozen countries, who build products and service clients. The only thing I can imagine Liz was thinking of when she made the “shell” comment is that my personal investment company, KIT Capital, is a large investor in KIT digital. These investments were done in fair and arms-length transactions which have been filed with the SEC, and supported by the investment community! The first such investment commitment effectively saved ROO from hitting the wall last December, and the latest round (when KIT Capital invested approximately $7 million) involved several substantial and savvy institutional investors participating alongside KIT Capital, for an aggregate capital raise of $15 million. I would remind readers that executives investing on a pari passu basis with outside shareholders is an unqualified positive in the view of the SEC, NASDAQ and nearly every securities agency and regulatory body worldwide.
• MINOR CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS:
1) KPE: I worked at KPE not, as stated in the transcript, KPW.
2) REVENUE INCREASE: My statement that “revenues were up 100%” was actually not “vague” as claimed by Dan Rayburn. I clearly stated in the interview (again, didn’t make it into the edited transcript) that I was referring to month-on-month revenue from when I came on in January of this year to the present month, on a fully consolidated basis, including the Kamera acquisition. This has also been clearly disclosed with the SEC.
3) REVENUE BREAKDOWN: In the interview, I stated that our revenues from Europe, Middle East and Africa (MENA) totaled between 20-25% of today’s total monthly revenue. In the transcript, MENA was shortened to “Europe” and “20%” was the only number mentioned.
4) APIs: In the interview, I referred to “APIs”, not “ASPs” (“all the ASPs for social networking, streaming, storage”). This was simply a misquote in the transcript, and I am sure an honest mistake.
5) PEER IMPACT/WURLD MEDIA: There is a blogger above who is upset about his credit card info being stored by either Peer Impact or Wurld Media, and (if I understood correctly) some money that he feels is owed to him by one or both companies. I empathize with this person, because my opinion is that Wurld Media was an exceedingly poorly run business, but to be clear, KIT digital purchased certain technology assets from Wurld Media (well before I came on as CEO), and did not acquire the business/client lists/accounts receivable or payable, etc. As such, we do not have access to his (or any other Peer Impact or Wurld Media) customer data, nor can we even verify any past bills he may owe or are owed to him. As an aside, one of my first actions as CEO in early January was to shut down the peer-to-peer research that was being done around the Wurld Media assets.
6) LOSS: On a consolidated basis and as previously disclosed in public filings and on public investor conference calls, KIT digital is losing less than 1/2 per month in EBITDA today than it was compared to the trailing numbers when I came on as CEO in mid-January of this year—and this loss has been steadily decreasing. We continue to expect to be cash-flow positive on a monthly basis by the 4Q of this year, and with our recent announced financing of $20 million in total, it is management’s belief that we are the best capitalized independent company in the industry on a cash-to-burn-coverage ratio basis. I am not aware of Brightcove’s monthly EBITDA loss level today, despite being asked this by a number of folks who have read the NewTeeVee blog; given the reaction to my other Brightcove comments, I am reluctant to hazard a guess.
7) DICK: An individual claiming to be an employee of the company has stated that I am a “complete dick” when met in person (my ex-wife and a few others would probably agree, but I prefer “jerk” ☺). The same writer also said that I “say one thing, then we find out a week later it was a lie”. Assuming this posting is legitimate (though the mis-spelling of the company name makes me question this a little), I have tried to identify the source of this sentiment, and I think I have: unfortunately, I had to lay off a lot of people at ROO to bring down our costs, and there were further personnel cuts after the Sputnik acquisition. In this process, there was a small group of employees in New York that wasn’t informed of their status when they should have been (i.e., about eight layoffs that occurred after we had announced internally that we were done with the staff reduction). I apologized privately for this then, and I apologize again for it now publicly. I stand by the fact that these layoffs were the right decision for the company, but their communication was unintentionally handled badly, and I take responsibility for that.
8) OUR WEBSITE AND VISION: One of the bloggers said that KTI digital “gives no info on their website and to date, has no clear vision”. As I explained to Liz in the interview (but was also left out of the transcript, but thankfully referred to by Liz in the afternote), we recently re-branded and acquired mobile TV company Kamera, so our current corporate site is a bit of a placeholder, with our new website launching in June. Regarding our vision, we are clear in our collateral materials, as well as multiple press releases and investor conference call transcripts (none of which were read by the blogger, clearly) that we are focused on leadership in IP-based video enablement (to both browser-based and mobile device environments) for large corporate clients in international marketplaces.
9) BROWSER CODECS: Dan Rayburn wrote about use of the phrase “browser CODECS” and other “marketing terms”. I wasn’t able to capture what other terms he was referring to, but in saying “browser-oriented CODECS” (which is how I actually said the words to Liz in the phone interview) I was referring to compression/decompression protocols for the ingestion and distribution of video in fixed online (as opposed to mobile device) environments. I think this was pretty clear to anyone reading my comments without an axe to grind.
10) FOCUS: Dan also complained that, “The CEO says they are focused on ‘enterprise software’ but also says ‘mobile really differentiates us’ and also says they do ‘content management’, ‘ASPs [sic, see above] for social networking’, ‘streaming’ and ‘storage’…That’s about as unfocused as you can get.” Actually, everything mentioned is integrally related to our enterprise software solution (which is provided largely as an ASP), and the same type of stuff that Brightcove and others talk about. The only piece that’s additive really is the mobile TV capability, which was my original point on differentiation in the interview! The same “unfocused” comment could be applied to someone who’s trying to refine their baseball skills, and therefore needs to work on a bunch of things—like bunting, hitting the cut-off man, keep your head still in the box, etc.—to play the whole game well. Our goal is to play the whole game (baseball specifically not other sports, as in this analogy) well.
Thank you for the opportunity to clarify certain points and give my opinion on others, Liz. Again, if I have upset any individual or company in the course of the original interview or this written blog response, it was not my intent. I repeat that my hat goes off to not only Brightcove, but also Dailymotion, Narrowstep, Multicast and all of the other companies and entrepreneurs working hard to prove out a challenging but exciting space. I see us as a group succeeding because of each other, not in spite of each other.
Shareholders and employees of KIT digital, if you are reading this, thank you for your ongoing support and dedication. We may be David in this blogologue, but our operating/financial results will tell the true story. It’s been only a few months since the new era began at ROO/KIT, and we’ve accomplished a lot together. Now I am going back to work…It’s midnight!
Regards,
Kaleil
Based on feedback we’ve received in the comments section, it appears that the original introduction to this piece may have been interpreted by some in an unintended manner. To address this feedback, I’ve clarified the introduction in a way that I think more clearly reflects my intent.
Further, in response to Isaza Tuzman’s lengthy comment here, I have corrected a couple of typos in the piece. If you are interested in
more detail, please do see his comment, as it addresses issues that were cut from the interview transcript in the interest of brevity.
Thanks to everyone who has participated in making this a better story.
Hey Kaleil (aka Dick),
It also help when you stop paying people you owe money too, such as advertisers and suppliers.
I understand you having to lay people off. It is a business decision and was nothing person. What I don’t understand is you lying to your own employees and treating them like a dollar sign and nothing more.
We deserve better than that.
Anonymous- The CEO offered his email above. Why don’t you grow a pair and send him an email. Libel is actionable if intent to injure can be proven.
Much of the above is close in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and take your grievance to the right forum.
Liz, the CEO presented a wonderful response to your charge of his company being a “shell”.
The line through the original wording is not enough from my point of view.
You owe the company an apology.
You may owe shareholders much more.
I still have not heard back from your editors or the people who run Giga Omni Media.
You created a problem for them in my opinion.
Do the right thing.
Search within, we can’t defend all our mistakes.
If so many points in the interview were incorrect as the CEO states, why did it take a ton of comments by readers for a week BEFORE the CEO addressed them? Poor leadership.
Have just read over entire thread….
Not much convincing material from the KIT side for my perspective…
“9) BROWSER CODECS: Dan Rayburn wrote about use of the phrase “browser CODECS” and other “marketing terms”. I wasn’t able to capture what other terms he was referring to, but in saying “browser-oriented CODECS” (which is how I actually said the words to Liz in the phone interview) I was referring to compression/decompression protocols for the ingestion and distribution of video in fixed online (as opposed to mobile device) environments. I think this was pretty clear to anyone reading my comments without an axe to grind.”
What does this mean???
The ‘codecs’ being used most commonly for online video are the Sorenson Spark and On2VP6 Codecs (used for Flash video), Windows Media 9 series (For Windows Media Videos).
Kaleil is mixing Video Formats: Flash, Windows and Real with Codec Types…On2VP6, WM9 series etc.
Looks like not only Kaleil but any close ‘advisors’ handle the technical side of industry terms is weak at best…..
The figures…..
“Flash is 90 percent of the market; Windows 10 percent; RealNetworks, 5 percent.”
Not only have no support,…actually add up to 105%. (90 + 10 + 5)
Nice. (Hope this wasn’t ran via the CFO! :)
Interested to hear more on the claimed “APIs for social networking” to be available for the ROO Platform.
I’ve not seen any info on this and what social networking platforms and capabilities the API offers for each, (and if these are Public available APIs…although due to licensing content agreements..i couldnt imagine they would be.)
Looks like the costume may have changed yet the comedy still continues……
Ah, the bashing continues. Despite the libel riddling this thread the company landed a significant client today.
They must not have heard! LOL
Read about this client Dan, Liz and their supporting cadre.
Liz, I appreciate the fact that Kaleil took the time to post a comprehensive reply and provide clarification. I question your integrity as a reporter when you leave unsubstantiated, unverified claims such as “looking like a shell company”. Presumably you’ve put a line thru’ it indicating it was in the original article and should not be considered anymore. Some people might think you’re highlighting that statement thru’ underlining. I thought blogs were part of the new media, where things could be corrected with versioning comments indicating the original entry having been changed. For heaven’s sake, is this printed paper, that you have to strike thru’ verbiage to indicate it was removed?!
Kit Digital signed up a customer who is delivering volleyball games in Poland. Big deal. Companies sign up customers all the time that end up turning out to be no big deal, with very little revenue.
Show me the revenue, not a press release. Nothing means anything unless there is revenue from it.
For ALL of 2007, Kamera did $2.9 million dollars in revenue. If that makes you excited, then you are investing in the right company. What a joke.
That you Dan?
“5) PEER IMPACT/WURLD MEDIA: There is a blogger above who is upset about his credit card info being stored by either Peer Impact or Wurld Media, and (if I understood correctly) some money that he feels is owed to him by one or both companies. I empathize with this person, because my opinion is that Wurld Media was an exceedingly poorly run business, but to be clear, KIT digital purchased certain technology assets from Wurld Media (well before I came on as CEO), and did not acquire the business/client lists/accounts receivable or payable, etc. As such, we do not have access to his (or any other Peer Impact or Wurld Media) customer data, nor can we even verify any past bills he may owe or are owed to him. As an aside, one of my first actions as CEO in early January was to shut down the peer-to-peer research that was being done around the Wurld Media assets.”
By the way I’m not a blogger … Liz is
Mr Tuzman how do you explain this SEC filing that clearly sates that ROO /Kit Digital acquired the customer logs,location files and records of Wurld Media if you say here you did not acquire the business/client lists/accounts receivable or payable .etc.
On July 12, 2007, ROO HD, Inc. (“ROO HD”), a wholly owned subsidiary of ROO Group Inc. (“ROO”), entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Wurld Media, Inc. (“Wurld Media”), Gregory Kerber and Kirk Feathers. Wurld Media specializes in the P2P distribution of music, movies, games, TV shows and other audio, video, and/or audio/video content.
The acquisition was completed on July 17, 2007. The assets acquired by ROO HD, Inc. pursuant to the Agreement, include: (i) certain fixed assets, equipment, fixtures, leasehold improvements located at Wurld Media’s office in Saratoga Springs, New York; (ii) certain intellectual property of Wurld Media; (iii) the goodwill of Wurld Media; (iv) the customer logs, location files and records of Wurld Media, (v) all claims, entitlements, rebates, refunds, settlements, awards or other rights related to the assets acquired by ROO HD.
The consideration for the assets acquired by ROO HD was an aggregate of approximately $4.3 million, consisting of approximately $3.2 million in cash and the issuance of 655,000 shares of common stock of ROO.
http://www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.u14bf.htm
Matt, Liz Gannes, with the support of Dan Rayburn and a couple of anonymous posters have done everything possible to help you impune the company and CEO.
What more do you want?
Seriously, grow a pair and get a lawyer if you think you have been harmed. Your “case” looks weak as you continue to work it on Liz’s back.
I’ll say it again, this is a shameful thread and the author and company have to answer for it.
Some of us out here have a pair!
Mike if I have hurt the reputation of KIT digital my job is done :p .
I have known Mr.Tuzman for years. He is a very hard working, very driven and extremely knowledgeable man with a lot of integrity and big connections in a corporate world. For those who don’t know him or like to see the company fail due to their personal reasons, stop bashing and be fair. The company is lucky to get a CEO like Mr.Tuzman. Give it some time and KIT digital will turn into a very profitable company.
Im sure Mr Tuzman is a decent businessman and I have my disappointment is not directed at him but he definitly should know what assets he aquired from Wurld media epecialy if the sale was filed with the SEC and personaly I couldnt care who the CEO is to …..it could be that idiot Rob Petty .
My issue is that ROO acquired Wurld Media and then disconnected the DRM servers so thousands of dollars of peoples Music no longer works so they inhereted Wurld Medias problems when they purchased them and bad luck for Mr Tuzman who inherited ROOs problems .
Isaza Tuzman is indeed a decent businessman if he shut down ROO Business Solutions and the hot potato that was Wurld Media because two of the former Wurld ROO executives are facing tax fraud charges .
But it would go a long way if he and the KIT Digital team would find a way to make the music from Peer Impact work again ,but of course that is clearly not a part of their business objectives.
Kaleil (aka Dick) “a decent businessman”? THATS the bigest joke in the blog. Irene_NY I bet you never work for the man or invest your money with him, huh?
“Shell Company: a corporation without assets such as those established by white-collar criminals in bond swindles, money-laundering operations, mutual-fund …”
Looks like the right definition to apply if it is run by Isaza… look at his history and record and what hes been accused of in his fluff career. Even himself is proud to be called a dick but prefers jerk…. very profesional for the CEO of a public company. Yeah you give it time. ROO investors shouldnt hold there breath and KIT DIGITAL shareholders didnt do their homework.
I was a customer of Roo and it was a damn hard platform to use. They fought every way possible when it came to monetizing my streams on my player and I would be surprised if anyone would want to use their platform when you can choose others. As for them being a shell, they did some captial raise-ups and now they disappear. We used to do this with companies all the time in the PR biz, problem was they made most of what we did illegal, why there is no shareholder class action is beyond me.
Kaleil made a comment here saying that “…[he is accused of] say[ing] one thing, then find[ing] out a week later it was a lie”.
YES Kaleil is known for doing this. And such behavior is toxic for investor confidence, especially in a public entity. Kaleil, you may want to recall what happened at the recognition group. You said somethings and turned around and did something totally different… to the extend that you used investors money to purchase personal property and made other gross misrepresentations, over and over again. And when the investors found out … they pulled their money out. And this is NOT a one-time incident. You have a history of it… that goes back to GovWorks and its fall. All of your ventures on record (3 to be specific) failed miserably within the last 10 years mainly because you said something and then went around and did something else (sometimes legal but totally opposite of what you claimed you will do and sometimes totally illegal). my question to you as the CEO of KIT Digital is… How we, the shareholders of KIT Digital, can trust you and believe that you will not repeat the same pattern again? please answer that.
Wow this was great reading…I loved all the digs and insults.
I know nothing of this subject matter but I do know that he is a charming man,very polished and well versed.
Good luck to Kaleil Isaza Tuzman.
And to the ones that are bitter about getting canned dude shit happens!
I just saw the “start-up” documentary, was researching what college courses to take to learn to start and run businesses, and came across this page while Googling. Fascinating stuff. Salam Aleykam to Mr Tuzman by the way. I really admire what you’ve accomplished in your career Mr Tuzman, regardless to whether the issues presented regarding this particular chapter of it are true or not. I’ve never met you, know nothing of the issues mentioned on this blog, but have to admire the big players in the game. I doubt you could’ve reached the high plateaus in business that you have if you weren’t the real deal, and an extremely hard worker. Hope this whole mess blows over for you soon.
You know this is the same guy who ran his company into the ground as documented in Startup.com?
PLAIN AND SIMPLE:
KALEIL ISAZA TUZMAN IS AN EGOCENTRIC BASTARD WHO ONLY CARES ABOUT HIS “FAKE” BELIEF THAT HE IS A SUCCESS.
NEED A POINT OF REFERENCE? SEE THE MOVIE STARTUP.COM FOR PROOF. HE WILL BE FOREVER BRANDED FOR HIS MISTAKES THAT IS WHY HE HAS TO DO BUSINESS OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA AND BASE IT IN DUBAI.
I HAVE A GOOD HUNCH THAT THE FBI & SEC IS KEEPING AN EYE OUT ON MR. TUZMAN.
anonymous,
laying people off and moving to a cheaper place does not increase revenue. it increases profitability, not revnue. get a clue dude.
It’s an interesting blog, so much hate for one person. Are there any people who actually personally know Kaleil Tuzman? Are there any examples when “he said one thing, then find[ing] out a week later it was a lie”? What makes you think that ‘THE FBI & SEC IS KEEPING AN EYE OUT ON MR. TUZMAN’
Good luck to Kaleil Isaza Tuzman!
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I met Kaleil when he had just started Recognition Group, the “advisory firm” that helped(?) businesses in work out. He seemed to me an egomaniac and unapologetic for the millions upon millions of dollars he has lost for investors. When I first met Kaleil, he had only recently walked away from the disaster that was known as GovWorks, and yet there he was furnishing a recently purchased multimillion dollar loft in NYC with antiques from around the world. No shame. He strikes me as an ace self promoter who somehow keeps finding new suckers–I mean, investors. I, for one, believe in the three key success factors of business – management, management, management – and would never invest a penny in Kaleil or anything bearing his self-adulating monogram. It is no surprise to me that KIT Digital has never made any money, and I fully expect it to meet the same fate as GovWorks, Recognition Group, and KIT Capital in that these ventures never make any money for anyone…except, well,…
Krapleil is a product of EST or perhaps WWASP training. He is a jerk, dick, and idiot. He’s a phony. He’s as phony as Obama. I doubt Krapleil is an American citizen, either. I’ll bet he and Obama got together in a club of illegal aliens with CFR backing and so forth and so on.
Sorry, couldn’t resist. The EST part is true. It’s the only other place I’ve seen such phoniess. Well, he might’ve taken a Lifespring course as well.
I hope Krapleil rots in Hell. He’s a truly rotten person. I’m surprised he didn’t work at ENRON, WorldCom, etc. I’ll bet gold bars that at GoldmanSachs he put his clients on those companies, though.
As for GovWorks…seriously? That’s one of dumbest dot-com ideas ever. What industry existed there? How was it supposed to work when the local DMV or the Federal agencies have their own websites easily found on Google? No, Krapliel is a fraud and came in as such. That’s why KRAP Digital, sorry, KIT Digital is based in a shady, terrorism-sponsoring nation like Dubai!
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