I had the pleasure of speaking with two smart, future-thinking CEOs of interesting companies that are creating a more collaborative, productive and fun online-video work experience.
At the onset of the outbreak, as we were isolated at home, online video platforms offered a lifeline to connect with co-workers, family and friends. After about a year and a half, we’re burnt out with constant, unrelenting work video meetings. It’s a great tool, but it wears thin after a while.
As the pandemic is nearing an end and we’re entering a brand-new, exciting era, the way we communicate will change as well. The current corporate consensus of post-pandemic work is the hybrid model, in which employees are being asked to return to the office two or three days a week and could do their jobs remotely for the rest of the time.
There is a significant percentage of people who adamantly want to remain fully remote and would quit if forced back to a sterile office setting. With this new setup, online communications will be mission critical for keeping both at-home and in-office professionals in close contact. There’s a big concern that remote workers may become second-class citizens—out of sight and out of mind.
Bluescape
Bluescape stepped up to the challenge of reinventing the stodgy and limiting video meeting. Instead of having 35 people looking bored in their boxes, Bluescape offers the ability to have productive virtual work meetings together.
Peter “P.J.” Jackson is a serial entrepreneur and tech executive. Prior to Bluescape, he cofounded Ziploop; served on the boards of Eventbrite, DocuSign and Kanjoya; took Intraware to IPO and was the president and chief operating officer of Dataflex, following its acquisition of Granite Systems.
Bluescape seeks to deliver what video conferencing and enterprising messaging are lacking—an easy way for teams to gather around their collective work to see the big picture. Jackson and his team have built a dynamic, interactive video experience. On his platform, people can work the same way as if they were in a conference room together. The online workspace brings together all of the necessary tools to succeed, such as spreadsheets, dashboards and videos, which can be worked on in real time.
The company says that it’s an “incredibly secure, visual collaboration platform that serves as an information hub for hybrid workers.” There is a fast adoption of the product. The company has grown—and continues to grow—with a 400% increase in users over the past year, and the firm’s employee headcount has climbed 60%.
Rather than replacing your favorite tools, Bluescape brings them all together. Instead of just listening to speakers drone on endlessly, you can actually collaborate and get work done. You can share an array of tools, including whiteboards, documents and media in one view. You can review and mark up files in real time, while using the Zoom, Webex, or Teams meeting integration.
Jackson said, “In today’s ever-changing corporate landscape, it can be a challenge for business leaders to implement virtual tools capable of keeping up with the pace of business.” He added, “Using Bluescape, teams of any size— and across any industry—can seamlessly share information, collaborate and make better decisions in an increasingly digital environment.”
Bluescape’s clients run the gamut. They include Fortune 100 companies, the Department of Defense and nearly “every major film production company in the U.S. from Lionsgate to Disney to Netflix.” It’s also participating in the transformation of the automobile industry. Ford Motor Company is cutting production time by designing cars on the platform and relying on Bluescape as a solution of choice for its newly hybrid workforce.
The iconic automaker told its 30,000 white-collar office workers that they can continue to work from home “indefinitely” and have “flexible hours approved by their managers.” It’s anticipated that people will come into the office primarily for meetings and group projects. Ford will redesign its corporate office interiors.
Having a distributed workforce calls for the imperative need for online connectivity. The workspaces will be retrofitted to be versatile and adaptable to future needs for change. This includes walls, furniture, fixtures, conference rooms and collaborative spaces. Attention will be paid to enabling video calls and deploying technology to enhance virtual connectivity among co-workers and managers.
mmhmm
Mmhmm was founded in the early days of the pandemic when Phil Libin and his team were figuring out how to work remotely. They designed mmhmm, an online video platform with a mission to bring video calls to life.
The genesis of mmhmm was due to the collective recognition that most video calls are dreadfully boring. Libin, the founder and CEO, who has a wonderfully dry sense of humor, said about the prevailing video calls at the time that we all became “bland heads in boxes.” It was hard to present, collaborate and entertain. The company built mmhmm to add a little joy and life to traditionally boring presentations.
Libin, the former CEO of Evernote and now the head of digital product studio All Turtles, said that as he saw himself and others in the industry on video calls, he realized that presentations—like startup pitches—that could be vivid in person came off as dull in typical videos.
His concept is deceptively simple—jazz up video calls on platforms, such as Zoom or Google Meet, with cool, wild and vivid virtual backgrounds, slides and animations. There’s no law that says videos need to be painfully dull and tedious. Libin wants people to be entertained and enjoy the experience rather than being “a postage-stamp-sized head in a box.”
Mmhmm isn’t a direct competitor to existing video conferencing tech. It’s run through a compatible platform, like Zoom. Mmhmm has raised about $35.6 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Goldman Sachs, the Chainsmokers, Chamillionaire and others.
Mmhmm is used by a wide variety of folks, such as fashion’s elite for virtual fashion shows, educators across the country teaching math, clowns cheering children up at hospitals, Rabbis performing sermons and drone demos.
In addition to the cool, new product, Libin has focused on his own team. He’s an advocate of remote work and salary parity. Mmhmm firmly believes in maintaining pre-pandemic salaries, for existing employees and new hires, no matter where employees choose to live.
