Being green is very hip these days. There are many ways people can be eco-friendly and the marketing to the public is reflecting that. Companies are looking for ways to be green and people like to make public statements through their consumer purchases or use of social media. In the social media arena is a company called emPivot. Called the by the media, the “Green YouTube”, emPivot.com is the first online network to bring together the wide range of user generated content and premium content related to the environment.
Recently, I met Thom Wallace, Co-Founder of emPivot presenting his company to the JobMatchbox crowd because they are growing and looking for talented people that like to work in a startup environment. Thom leads emPivot’s development of site functionality, content partnerships, strategic planning, and business communications efforts. His efforts are focused on building an authentic and diverse community and offering the best services for visitors, content providers, and members.
We recently sat down for an interview and I was able to spend some time with him and discuss entrepreneurship and the future of emPivot. Here is a transcript of our interview:
Steve: So, how long have you been an entrepreneur?
Thom: Well, lets see, I’ve been officially a business owner for four years now. I started Ecofusion, a strategic communications and media company in 2005. And working with my business partner, Chace Warmington, we incubated and launched emPivot as a separate company in 2007.
Of course, I had a few little businesses I ran as a kid, from baseball cards to lawn mowing. In college I ran the radio station and the center for sustainability at Dickinson College. Finally, as I told a CFO of a company I worked for as an intern before my senior year in college, I planned on getting into the non-profit sector because of the great challenges a non-profit presented to a person with an entrepreneurial spirit. Before starting Ecofusion I spent six years in the non-profit sector. There is nothing like doing a lot with very little funding. It’s very rewarding. Some of the most amazing entrepreneurs I have met are involved in the non-profit sector. So, I could say I’ve always had a little entrepreneurial streak for about sixteen or seventeen years now.
Steve: Your background is developing technology and communications solutions for business and non-profits, specifically involved in the sustainability, clean tech, and environmental sectors. How did you get the idea for emPivot?
Thom: emPivot is focused on delivering a network of green related video content that has the widest variety of video – from both user-generated content to premium content.
We’ve been solving communications and media challenges for the leading thinkers and actors in the sustainability and community development sectors for most of our entire careers. So, it’s fair to say we’ve been operating at the convergence point of media and sustainability for a long time. As a result of the work we were doing for clients at the leading edge of media strategy and implementation, we knew a convergence of two of the fastest growing sectors, online video and “green” or sustainability, was going to occur. Who was going to be the first to provide the right solution was the remaining question.
The biggest problem for environmental content publishers is many are experiencing a poor ROI (return on investment) with their content, or as we like to call it getting the best Return on Inspiration. Reaching and retaining the attention of the right people and the widest range of people is very challenging in a new media landscape that is extremely saturated.
At the same time, people who want to watch content related to the environment, want a range of choices, from short form to long format content and home made to highly produced. Viewers of this content want to have a choice of options when it comes to thinking about how they will engage with environmental issues.
They don’t want to be preached at, they want to have a guilt free experience and come to the content when they want, on-demand. Finally, when they watch something, many want to be able to do something with the information or ideas they are presented.
So solving those problems in the marketplace is our objective, and we know that there will be other problems to solve in the future as well.
Steve: What made you decide that this was the way to go and to start emPivot?
Thom: There were a lot of factors involved in deciding to move forward. We knew the business opportunity was there for sure, but ultimately, what made us move forward was the realization that we didn’t think anyone was going to be as thoughtful and responsible when building the solution that we knew the market needed. If there was going to be an online video site for green content, it needed to go beyond that. We saw instead the need for an aggregation and distribution service for green related content and a brand that would last into the future to provide services for the entire range of people creating and consuming “green-related” media. As expected, some of the efforts that have followed ours, are short sighted and looking to take advantage of the “green-wave”, as some call it the “green-rush”. What the sector needs is not people looking to take advantage of the situation, but a service that is authentic. Not to say that we are the only authentic green media company in the industry, but we strive to be the most authentic sustainability focused digital media service and brand every day. And this is what has always driven us to build this company.
Steve: What is your philosophy on using social media for good?
Thom: Social media is an extension of our relationships as global citizens. How we exchange ideas, information, and services is undergoing an absolute revolution. There is a lot of power in the numbers we are seeing online. Obviously many people, causes, and efforts are benefiting from this. At the same time, it is clear that our world will be challenged by problems for some time to come. Having more tools isn’t always the only answer to solving these problems, having the right tools, is more important.
New media and social media are already moving content that can have an impact on the real lives of people. Social media, and media distribution in general will continue to evolve to be more effective at doing that. If a social media website actually changes someone’s life directly, for example like Kiva.org does, that is when social media and websites are at their greatest. So, as a result of social media evolving it just might spawn new economies built around creating stronger, healthier, and more sustainable communities. That’s simply amazing and very exciting. We are excited to be part of that evolution.
Steve: What are some lessons good or bad you have learned from starting emPivot?
Thom: Ok, this is one of those questions that has so many answers. The online video and sustainability sectors are both rapidly emerging and changing. One person said to us, “Why would you get involved in online video, that’s where the pie fight is. That’s a risky endeavor.” The big lesson is that there is a great deal of opportunity to create world changing products and solutions, even though we are a relatively small kid on the block. So, we’ve been sticking to a mantra of being authentic, true to our mission as a business, and in that pie fight analogy, that has been both our shield and our pie. We are spending a lot of time listening to the real users, the people who are giving us feedback and learning how we can move our product from its current place to a future business that has the ability to generate significant revenue and change.
Related to that, the other important lesson that has been really amazing to experience is the advantage we have of being a for-profit business. We are exposed to the requirements of the economy. People want revenue, we can’t rely just on funds or grants as a non-profit. It drives us to create innovative ways to drive real revenue through video for our business and create innovative ways to keep our services relevant.
Those are the first two that come to mind. Maybe some other day I’ll be able to go over all the other lessons learned. It’s great though; they’ve all made us stronger.
Steve: You don’t see yourselves as a social network but a video content platform, why go in that direction?
Thom: With the release of the new version of our network we are focused on being really good at one thing; being an online video network for green content. This means getting video content about environmental issues, to people who will watch the content, from the best sources.
Social networking has changed so rapidly, and will continue to over the coming years. It’s a really volatile space and we are under no illusion that we need to compete to build the best social networking tools. While I enjoy my own personal Facebook account and many of the innovations on social networking sites, the world of social networks and identities, will undergo, if it isn’t already, a drastic change as digital media distribution, ala IPTV, On Demand, and the like, evolve. So will television and video on the Internet.
So, with that in mind we are focused on being a company that doesn’t have to worry about being the next big social network. We want to be a video network with content that defines our users, and users that at some level help to define the content. So that is our reasoning, and as a result it’s paying off because we focus on being good at one thing.
Steve: Do you feel it is important for a company to be unique it should build their own tools (e.g. Video Player)?
Thom: Absolutely. What are you worth if you don’t have something unique? At the same time, in this world of rapid technology evolution, you have to be more nimble and strategically choose where you make investments in technology. The great part of the current technology environment is that there are a vast number of solutions providers that allow small upstarts to not have to build revolutionary applications. With the use of API’s and widgets, companies like ours can focus on building the business model and delivering the content to the places it needs to go, rather than spend a lot of time working outside of our core capacity. There are a lot of little parts that can provide supplementary services to a company’s core offerings. With that said, we continue to focus on building out our own technology solutions because we have a vertical market. That market niche allows us to focus internally on building out very specifics technologies that we don’t believe anyone will be driven to develop.
Steve: Do feel that companies should use advertising as their only source of monetizing their site?
Thom: Well, that depends of course. Some sites can do very well based on advertising as a sole income stream. More than likely, that’s a fickle game to play for a higher percentage of companies. Creating future projections for a company built solely on advertising for the large percentage of online companies is a bit naïve because of the challenge of volume. In the global marketplace, people need real solutions for their lives. This requires real services. The companies and individuals who build revenue strategies that impact people’s real world problems with real world solutions will build businesses that people will come back to. With every passing day, our modes of receiving data and information are changing, and advertising is not the only method for digital companies to create revenue. Exactly what all those opportunities are, I can’t predict exactly, but there is no doubt a great number of people forging ahead to develop those new revenue models. We like to consider ourselves part of that group.
Steve: As we close the interview I think it is important to discuss the potential for Green Fatigue to set in. Do you think that things will peak and fade out affecting emPivot?
Thom: We built what we like to call a legacy brand, a brand that can transcend the possibility of a “green” trend fading. So we aren’t worried about that idea.
There is a lot of talk about this idea; is “green” just a fad? The way it’s being defined by some people, as a business opportunity train to jump on, yes, it is a fad and some people are experiencing some “green fatigue” because the word might be losing its value.
At the same time, the way we define it, as being a cultural movement tied to awareness of our use of limited natural resources, we have a hard time seeing it going away. The names we use to bring about that awareness may change, but ultimately the basis of “green” issues will always be part of our world. We see it simply this way, natural resources are the basis of our society, our materials for making society work come from our natural environment. Whether the movement to think about those things in relation to our consumption and protection of those resources is called green, blue, or brown, doesn’t matter.
So, I guess what I am saying is that the “green” name maybe a fad and it may last two to seven more years, but the opportunity to create exciting world changing products and solutions is not a fad. Let me also add this, the “green-wave” we are experiencing has led to some of the highest levels of awareness about natural resource issues. That has been absolutely amazing. At the same time it’s exposed the complexity of our ecological systems, and our economic ties to those systems. Figuring out how to simplify our relationship with natural resources and bring our use of those resources into balance will always be an ongoing business opportunity.
As a media business we plan to be around for a long time to come while all that is happening, and hopefully we can empower pivotal change through our services and media network.
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