Joost (formally known as The Venice Project) – Peer to Peer TV Distribution from the founders of Skype and Kazaa
Joost seems to heading ever closer to death. It’s refocusing on becoming a white label video provider, is letting go of most of its staff, and has lost Mike Volpi as CEO. Less than three years after being founded, the Joost story looks set to come to an end fairly soon.
Everything In Place
Joost seemed to have every chance of succeeding when it launched as The Venice Project in October of 2006. Early hype made it a much in demand start-up, with everyone wanting to test the new high quality, on-demand video streaming service out. Which they did in their droves thanks to an invite-only beta.
The funding was also there in place, with $45 million raised from some big names including Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Viacom, and CBS. It was Hulu before Hulu was even a twinkle in its shareholders eyes. Success seemed guaranteed but clearly nothing is guaranteed in the world of technology.

It’s looking as though mobile television is going to grow exponentially over the next few years, with faster and more numerous connections, and more devices capable of streaming video. TV.com clearly wants in on the ground level, and has already started its push.
2008 has now seamlessly morphed into 2009 and we’re all a year older, and maybe even a year wiser. But what happened in the world of Internet television over the past 12 months?
Sling.com, the online video portal from the makers of the Slingbox, is now open to the public, putting it in direct competition with the likes of Hulu and Joost. Unfortunately, like so many other sites, it’s only open to U.S. citizens.
The new Joost is now live, and offers users the chance to watch content in their Web browser using Flash. But is the content ever going to be good enough for it to compete with
While Joost may have been first to launch, Hulu is the television service that has taken off while Joost has been left to die. But, Joost Mark II now seems to have started a new war between the two.