So that’s where social TV leaders Jesse Redniss and David Beck went.
Redniss and Beck, along with social marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk have formed BRaVe Ventures, which will advise top TV networks, digital agencies, and social TV companies. At launch, the company already counts as clients one of the major broadcast TV networks, Mashwork/Canvs.TV, Watchwith, Spredfast, Clasp.TV, ListenFirst Media, Contend Co., Vayner Media and GLOW.
“Part of the problem today is the vast amount of choice when it comes to how to develop and execute on a new technology-driven program,” Redniss tells Lost Remote. “We’ve watched companies spend large amounts of money and countless hours on technologies that didn’t work or on social programs that didn’t engage fans. We have the expertise to eliminate waste in order to determine the best solution to help our clients develop targeted programs based on specific business objectives from the start.”
In addition to the acceleration and advisory components of BRaVe, the new venture will also be incubating emerging social TV, second screen, and multi-screen start-ups. Says Redniss:
“Through our years of operational management at major media companies, we have worked with dozens of start-ups, implementing their technology offerings within our programs, driving success while helping them prove out their models. Many of them have become successful stand-alone businesses and many of them have been acquired or have even gone public. Because of this unique experience, BRaVe has dedicated capital to invest in future start-ups that have an opportunity to transform the ecosystem, and for which BRaVe can provide meaningful incubation services to accelerate success. The amount of capital BRaVe has to invest is not public, but BRaVe has been backed by VRSE’s $25M fund [VRSE was created by RSE Ventures and Gary Vaynerchuk].”
Having been at the forefront of many of the best social TV integrations we have covered over the years, Redniss and Beck certainly have insight into the challenges that executives at major media brands face in terms of how to approach content creation and fan engagement with so many different mediums through which to interact. Along with Vaynerchuk’s leadership credentials, it will be exciting to see how BRaVe’s three partners continue to shape our favorite programs.