Yaron Samid: the Wizard of NY Web Video

An Interview with Yaron Samid:
The Wizard of NY Web Video

This is a two part interview with the founder of the NY Video 2.0 Meetup and serial entrepreneur. In part one he discusses the Web Video community, and giving back.

Sunshine Suites is a sponsor of NY Video 2.0, and one of the few places outside of coffee shops that NYC web start-ups can afford office space. Their offices in Tribeca – adorned in minimalist white stools and retro padded eggshell chairs – are trendy, cheap, well run and altogether quite impressive. Yaron hosted this interview in one of their well appointed conference rooms.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your values?

"My name is Yaron Samid. I am the organizer of NY Video 2.0.

"NY Video 2.0 is a monthly gathering of peers in the online video space in NY city. Made up of everyone from start-ups to DVD companies to tv companies to networks, investors people in the web video space. and we get together once a month and we have anywhere from 2200 members usually 500 members who show up. We meet at Webster hall.”

"I got into this space simply because I am one of the peers, I am a serial entrepreneur, I have been in the space for about 12 years. Most recently started a company called Pando Networks about 4 years ago. Pando is a p2p company that enables people and companies to move large media online in a very very cost effective manner. I also did a few other media based start-ups so I've been in the startup scene for quite some time and really gotten my hands dirty in figuring out the business of video online.”

"Regarding my values, I guess I’ll speak to that as it pertains to the group. We started a group, NY Video 2.0, 2 years ago with the spirit of just hanging out with fellow entrepreneurs who are trying to figure out the video game, you know? The video business--which, we still have yet to figure out, by the way.”

"So 2 years ago I got about 30 buddies of mine who were also starting up companies in NY and rented out a screening room in Tribeca Film Center. 4 or 5 companies got up and showed their product and then we talked about it and we tried to figure out how we're going to make this thing work and help each other out as fellow NYers." It was interesting, I noted, that in talking about himself, he hardly mentioned himself at all.”

"The spirit of that very much speaks to my personal values which is, I believe in giving back as a principle of not only your life but of your business. If you make that your filter--of everything you do--I think it guides you in the right direction.

"I've been given back so much, by organizing this community--10 fold what I give to it. I spend a few hours a month basically organizing the event, the venue, the presenters and as a result I have become something of a connector in the community. I see a lot of startups, I talk to a lot of media companies and investors who want to pair up and I am able to broker a lot of relationships, just as a labor of love--I enjoy helping people out."

"You know the conservation of energy law in physics? I believe there is a conservation of good energy law. If you put out good vibes and good energy and you give to people--you get back. Thats really what the community is about. Its a free group, its about helping other people out.

"Thats really been the most rewarding part, at least for me personally, and I think for people who attend as well."

You seem to really believe in giving back, was this a goal of yours from the start or did it evolve somehow from the Internet work you do?

Naturally upbeat and gregarious, Samid’s genuine enthusiasm shines through as he discusses his passion.

"I think this has more to do with the individual DNA of a person. I've been involved with a lot of volunteer type of stuff that just--its something that might not fill your wallet, but it will fill your soul. If your that kind of person than it permeates into everything you do. I might not have consciously set out on my career to be a community leader and organizer, but I think it happened because thats kind of the person that I am. So it wasn't a conscious decision.

"Two years ago when I started the NY Video 2.0 community, it very much stemmed from an after-work, non-profit-motivated type of thought and it became something way beyond."
"I really thought it would be a few people getting together and talking about the business of video. When I think of 2200 people getting together and all the business development, all the hires, and all the connections, that happen from it . . . its really very rewarding."

"By the way, I have to give a big shout-out to meetup.com and Scott Heifermen who is the CEO there. Meetup really facilitates the gathering of people offline, thats the goal of the site. Without meetup.com as the platform, I wouldn't have been able to grow the group to where it is today. The site handles a lot of the administrative stuff, the RSVPs, the calenders, the emails and so forth."

"It was born on that very value [giving back], Scot Heifermen who started meetup.com, started it on 9/11. I saw your tattoo there. On 9/11 he said, 'you know, I'm a serial entrepreneur, I've been doing stuff, but I want to do something more substantial, how do I give back to my community?' and he built meetup.com to get people off of the web and meeting face to face as a community. Very much the same spirit."

Indeed it is.

Next post will be some lessons Yaron learned the "hard knocks way" for web video entrepreneurs.