Live video service Ustream just announced “a small restructuring” of the workforce that will result in cutting approximately 6 percent of the current team. The company said the restructuring, along with the hiring of two new vice presidents, is an attempt to focus on sales of its Pro Broadcasting products and to move toward profitability.
A company spokesperson told me that after today, Ustream will have a global headcount of 191 across its San Francisco, Los Angeles, Budapest, Korea, and Japan offices. They also said that despite the cuts, the company is still growing, with more than 15 employees already hired this year and more than 25 open positions (16 of which are in sales).
Ustream says that it’s increasingly becoming a SaaS business, namely one that makes money by selling software (as opposed to ads). It also says that the Pro product line has grown 150 percent year-over-year, and was recently used to live stream the Sony PlayStation 4 launch, which 1 million people watched concurrently.
To move further in that direction, Ustream is also announcing that it has hired two executives from enterprise video service Ooyala — James Nielsen, previously Ooyala’s director of sales, is now vice president of subscription sales at Ustream, and Dave Gibbons, formerly director of solutions marketing, is now vice president of product marketing. (Both are apparently new positions.)
In the press release announcing the changes, CEO Brad Hunstable says that Ustream is now working with 15 million live broadcasters who reach 80 million monthly viewers: “We expect to grow our Saas Pro Broadcaster business even faster this year as we add sales capacity and customer success resources to help monetize our huge base of freemium broadcasters.”
Ustream is the pioneer in live social video streaming, boasting the largest global community with more than 80 million viewers and broadcasters. The company’s innovative cloud technology enables anyone – from entertainers to consumers, to companies to non-profit organizations – to easily connect and broadcast in real-time. Founded in 2007, Ustream is a San Francisco-based company that has grown to more than 160 employees within their San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. Company partners include Panasonic, Samsung, Logitech,...
Brad Hunstable co-founded Ustream more than five years ago with a vision to bring live broadcast technology to the entire world. Since then, the company has established itself as the leading live, and social online video site. Brad has been ranked among 50 “Digital Power Players” by the Hollywood Reporter and on Variety’s Producers Guild of America’s Digital 25: Visionaries, Innovators and Producers for his work at Ustream. Prior to founding Ustream, Brad worked at Hillwood Development, a Ross Perot Company,...
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