Lightcast.com is a comprehensive end-to-end media distribution and management platform that provides cost-efficient and accessible solutions for businesses and content creators to expand their brands across multiple platforms, screens, and devices. The platform was founded with a vision to democratize media distribution, making it accessible to everyone from established media corporations to small businesses and independent content creators. With its state-of-the-art technology and integrated marketing and monetization tools, Lightcast.com makes multi-platform media distribution, management, and publishing automation, as well as advertising and monetization, affordable and accessible to all.
The company’s services include hosting, storage, transcoding, CDN delivery, app and website setup, metadata, image and media library management, live-streaming and linear streams, and publishing automation to all major device platforms and social media sites. The platform continues to evolve rapidly to meet the changing needs of the industry and the diverse requirements of its clients.
Democratizing Media Distribution and Management
Since its early years, Lightcast.com has remained true to its vision of democratizing media distribution and management. As a result Lightcast became a first-mover of OTT apps on every new app store and streaming device on the market. FireTV was shaped by Lightcast’s team of software architects and app developers years ahead of its launch and launched with over 100 apps of Lightcast’s clients out of the gate. In a similar fashion Lightcast was among the first end-to-end OTT providers who integrated new device platforms such as AppleTV, Samsung SmartTV, LG SmartTV and others into its Media Cloud content management middleware, and developed proprietary app templates for new app stores, streaming players and smart TV devices. Lightcast.com has continued to innovate and expand its services to meet the changing needs of the industry and the diverse requirements of its clients.
Today, Lightcast.com provides a comprehensive end-to-end media distribution and management platform that offers an integrated approach to multi-platform media distribution, management and publishing automation, advertising and monetization. The company’s proprietary app template framework, integrated with the Media Cloud management system, offers publishers the ability to create, manage, and submit new TV apps, mobile apps, and web apps within a matter of days or weeks. This streamlined process allows for significant time savings compared to traditional development methods, which often take months or even years to complete. With over 9,000 apps launched across all major app stores, Lightcast.com’s app templates are proven and enjoy a fast review and approval process with app stores.
Building Success in the OTT Industry
Andreas Kisslinger is the Founder and CEO of Lightcast.com. He has been a serial entrepreneur in the media and tech industry since the age of 19 and has a deep understanding of customer needs in the OTT space and streaming industry. Andreas is regarded as one of the secret pioneers and whales in the OTT space. He believes that excellence in technology and product development is key to the success of Lightcast.com and strives to create a product that delivers great service and solutions to its customers.
Apart from his professional life, Andreas is a passionate individual who loves outdoor activities such as sailing, hiking, skiing, biking, and diving. He finds inspiration in the design, functionality, harmony, and architecture of nature.
Key to Being a Smart Company
Andreas believes that being a smart company involves prioritizing and focusing on core tasks that propel the business forward. He emphasizes the importance of filtering and prioritizing among thousands of vendors, ideas, opportunities, and proposals that vie for a company’s attention. Andreas emphasizes that wise selection, prioritization, and focus are critical to engineering processes, software development, and customer service.
Andreas also recognizes that software plays a critical role in making a company smart, but he believes that it should be the right software for the right workflow. As a software developer, Andreas understands the significance of using software automation in streamlining workflows and improving efficiency. Additionally, he advocates for the integration of software services from other providers that are compatible with each other.
Challenges and Benefits of Bootstrapping
Lightcast.com faced the challenge of funding its startup entirely from its own resources without any external investments. This meant that the company had to be extra smart with budgeting and expense control during its initial years. Without external capital, the company had to stretch every dollar to go as far as possible. This mindset of resourcefulness helped the company become better in many ways.
However, despite the financial challenge, the startup years were enjoyable for the company. Lightcast.com was able to focus on product development and be creative without pressure from investors. The passion for developing great software and building the best multi-platform OVP and Media Management System for the mid-market was a driving force during the startup years.
Balancing Productivity and Well-being
The work culture at Lightcast.com values productivity and efficiency while also striving for balance and avoiding burnout. The company encourages its employees to prioritize their tasks and focus their energy on achieving their goals in order to create more free time for social interaction, fun, and relaxation. The company aims to strike a balance between working hard and taking breaks, acknowledging that being overworked can be unproductive and unsatisfying.
Lightcast.com encourages its teams to be smart in their selection and prioritization of tasks throughout the day, and to break down larger projects into manageable goals and milestones. The company also encourages its teams to be mindful of time-drains such as social media and media consumption. By enforcing these policies, Lightcast.com seeks to create a work environment that is both productive and enjoyable for its employees.
Expanding Reach and Growing Verticals
Lightcast.com envisions itself as a leading provider of media distribution automation services across multiple screens, devices, and platforms. Lightcast.com aims to continue expanding its reach and growing in its core growth verticals. The company plans to add several regional offices in emerging markets to better serve its growing customer base. Lightcast.com also plans to continue innovating and improving its proprietary media management system, the Media Cloud, to offer its customers even more capabilities and features.
