According to Robert Rizika, CEO of VidScale, “Entrepreneurship starts with being humble. Even the word “entrepreneur” is pretty smug, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not a title you have to earn but that many – too many – people self-apply without good cause. Being a real entrepreneur is being half crazy man and a half trapeze artist. The former has that Don Quixote vision that he believes, the world be damned. The latter is the clever operator who bends that vision to achieve a product/market fit without ruining the original quest.”
One Platform to Meet Tomorrow’s Networking Demands
VidScale is in many ways a natural extension of Robert’s previous business, Blackwave, which he sold to Nokia. After Blackwave, it became apparent to Robert that what the world was demanding of a network was outpacing the ability of the network to evolve. Today we define our use of the internet based on PC and mobile experiences – around 10 billion devices. In the next decades, hundreds of billions of devices will come online. Many of them will be robots or sensors or augmented interfaces that have nothing to do with phones.
Advances to AI and Deep Learning will make sense of the mountains of data they produce. Low-latency command and control, and instantaneous analytics will combine with these mind-boggling numbers of devices to put a tremendous strain on the network. But in this new world no operator is an island. Platforms which join them all together to offer massive end-user reach, and which can standardize and expose their core edge network functionalities to the app developers of the world, will be the solutions that are necessary to meet this next wave of app, content, device, analytics and interface demands.
From the Youngest to Oldest Guy in the Room
According to Robert “The biggest challenge is focus. When you have a vision as big as VidScale, you realize there are only so many hours in the day and you’ve got to make choices of where to begin, went to partner, who you hire, and how you measure your success. You’ve got to focus and get tactical, and as an organization takes that step back regularly and make sure the vision is on track and the next steps are visible on the horizon. You also tend to rely on the people you’ve done this with before.”
He continues “On the other hand, one day, you’re in a startup and you’re the youngest guy in the room. A few companies later, you’re the oldest guy, and you’re seeing a bunch of 20 year olds around the boardroom table. You’ve got to embrace change to succeed.”
VidScale: Network Next
VidScale is network NEXT. It’s the natural evolution of the global network to meet the coming wave of IoT, AI, low-latency applications, and next-gen augmented interfaces, all while keeping the network from collapsing under its own weight and security vulnerabilities. VidScale reimagines the global network in an era where deep local integration, real-time AI, and global scale are the table stakes for a new wave of connected devices, intelligent services, and augmented interfaces.
VidScale’s team makes these service providers realize that when they combine their networks, they are unstoppable – unmatched end-user reach, and the ability to combine the core benefits and functionalities of their privileged networks for use on a single, cohesive platform by the advertisers, media distributors, and app developers of the next tech wave. No one else is doing this. No one.
Goal to Keep Everyone Together
Robert asserts “In large organizations, so much energy goes into getting large groups of people to work cohesively –it’s simply not natural to humans. VidScale likes to keep people working together as a small team, where each member can anticipate each other’s needs almost intuitively. As much as possible, VidScale tries to converge all energy for one product and keep everyone in one building working towards a common goal.”
Success is about embracing the change
“You’ve got to take the highs and the lows, and stay true to your goal. In the startup world everything can change on a dime, and you need to embrace change, expect it, and leverage its energy to propel you forward – even if that’s in a new direction. Success is about endurance and focus, and that shared quality among every addition to your team,” says Robert.
The Future is Bigger than Today’s Network
People might look at all the progress and innovation of the past 10 years and think that things have peaked. At VidScale, they recognize that what’s about to come will make the last 10 years look like internet infancy. They are preparing the network for this brave, new future.
Startup Wisdom
When asked to give other startups advice, Robert doesn’t hesitate.“The memory that came to mind was back from my Boy Scout days when you’d light a match in the wind and you’d spend all your energy carefully tending to that fragile, vulnerable flame, getting it to the kindling before the harsh environment snuffed it out. In that way, we are guardians of the flame, and in this metaphor that flame is progress.”
