WonderHowTo
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Santa Monica, California July 28, 2006[1] |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California |
| Key people | Stephen Chao, Co-Founder and CEO Michael Goedecke, Co-Founder and Head of Product & Technology Bryan Crow, CTO and Amie Arbuckle, Advertising |
| Employees | 12[2] |
| Website | wonderhowto.com |
| Type of site | Instructional Video Guide |
| Advertising | Banner ads |
| Launched | January 30, 2008[3] |
| Current status | Active |
WonderHowTo is a community-developed instructional video guide website launched on January 30, 2008.[3] WonderHowTo acts as both a directory and search engine for how-to videos on the web. The free-access website is privately owned and operated by Wonder How To, Inc.
WonderHowTo was founded in 2006 by Stephen Chao and Michael Goedecke.[4] Backed by Cambridge, Massachusetts based General Catalyst Partners,[5] WonderHowTo.com launched as the world's largest free how-to video resource with almost 90,000 entries, hitting the 100,000th mark in less than two months.[4] By March 2008, the site’s audience grew to 300,000 monthly unique visitors and 800,000 by July (source: Google Analytics).[6] Partner Scripps Networks contributes instructional segments as well as handling advertising for the site.[7][8]
Employing both human and automated curation, the how-to supersite aggregates and organizes links to thousands of videos featured on other popular how-to video site publishers, as well as specialized collections of how-to video from niche-targeted sites and servers worldwide. WonderHowTo is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.[4]
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[edit] Partners
On October 7, 2008, WonderHowTo signed a syndication partnership deal with VideoJug. Under the terms of the agreement, VideoJug will provide the video content to the website in return for licence fees and/or a cut of ad revenues.[9]
[edit] CEO Stephen Chao
WonderHowTo's CEO Stephen Chao gained notoriety for being fired as President of Fox Television in 1992 for hiring a male model to strip naked during his speech at a management conference for FOX executives, board members and world dignitaries, including Rupert Murdoch and wife Anna Murdoch, and former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and wife Lynne Cheney. Chao spoke on “The Threat to Democratic Capitalism Posed by Modern Culture”. Strongly emphasizing that television programs tend to be less critical of violence than nudity and sexuality, Chao hired a local waiter/model Marco Iacovelli[10] to strip naked during his speech to illustrate his point about censorship and that network standards were not keeping pace with modern day experience. Not at all amused, Murdoch fired Chao immediately afterwards.[7][11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.quarkbase.com/show/wonderhowto.com
- ^ http://www.crunchbase.com/company/wonderhowto
- ^ a b http://www.thedeal.com/techconfidential/vc-ratings/vc-ratings/the-wraps-have-come-off.php WonderHowTo seeks edge in crowded video field by uniting content from around the Web
- ^ a b c http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS221503+27-Mar-2008+BW20080327 Reuters: WonderHowTo.Com Soars Past 100,000 How-To Video Mark
- ^ http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/01/30/how-video-site-wonderhowto.com-raises-funds DMW: How-to Video Site WonderHowTo.com Raises Funds
- ^ http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/10/business/fi-himi10 LA Times: He aims to stand out, even behind the scenes
- ^ a b http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/business/media/30chao.html?_r=2&ex=1359435600&en=0d4d5360fb697def&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin NYT: TV Showman, Once Exiled, Returns With Video Site
- ^ http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-how-to-video-site-wonderhowto-raises-first-round/ How To Video Site WonderHowTo Raises First Round; Chao’s Return
- ^ http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/851355/VideoJug-signs-five-content-syndication-deals/ VideoJug signs five content syndication deals
- ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,311013,00.html EW: Chao Time Ends In Fox Fire
- ^ http://www.mrmedia.com/2008/03/how-to-interview-stephen-chao-ceo-of.html Mr. Media Interviews Stephen Chao
