Nameless.tv opened its beta yesterday. Its website says the site “broadcasts the best videos on the web allowing viewers to watch and chat in real-time.” One of its cofounders, Alex Serio, spoke about the company at the launch of Monegraph, a block chain-powered tool for artists, as the Observer previously reported.
Nameless.tv curates interesting videos from YouTube and displays them in its bespoke interface. Kareem Rahma, its CEO, said, “It’s about chatting with people at the same time as you are watching a video,” in a phone call with the Observer. Viewers could, for example, watch the latest Boston Dynamics video with all the other robotics enthusiasts out there and freak out in unison about the guy shoving the robot down. Provided the Nameless team picks that video, anyway.
Obviously, like a lot of socially oriented startups, the challenge is going to be building a big enough user base that people can always find some other folks to chat with. Mr. Rahma said that users will find its real time features, where Reddit meets Twitter meets TV, more compelling than the comments sections of existing sites.
The company’s larger goal is to create a media company. In time, it will show original content, made in partnership with editorial and brand partners. It will also soon bring in embeddable video from other platforms (like Facebook (META) and Vimeo) using proprietary software.
When we first encountered Nameless at Monegraph‘s launch event at the New Museum, Ms. Serio described a site that would permit creators of premium video content to sell their works using Monegraph’s provenance system. Mr. Rahma said that vision was always a secondary business for the company, but one that’s still on the list.
Nameless was cofounded by three alums of Vice Media, according to an email from Ms. Serio.
