Why Zoom wants to build a Google, Microsoft, and Slack killer
The latest news from StreamAlive and the world of online, offline, and hybrid live events.
Hi there!
Before we get into this week’s newsletter, don’t forget to register for our webinar today: How to remain compliant with multiple privacy laws.
Being compliant with the 137 privacy laws around the world is important to StreamAlive and your business so we’ve brought in a privacy law expert to answer your questions on GDPR, California’s privacy law, India’s new DPDPA law, and other privacy laws around the world.
Register now for the webinar, or share it with a colleague who might be interested.
📆 October 10th
⌚ 11:30am EST | 5:30pm CEST | 9pm IST
During this webinar, you will learn:
4 challenges to watch out for on your company's data privacy journey
Identify which laws and regulations your business is exposed to in the first place
What are sectoral laws like the EU's e-privacy regulation
What are ecosystem policies you need to be aware of (like in the Google and Apple marketplaces)
How a framework will help you build and sustain compliance no matter how your business grows in the future
Real-world case studies to illustrate how other businesses have managed their data privacy journey
Save your seat and bring your notepad. If you can’t make the live webinar, make sure to register and we’ll send you a recording afterwards.
5 things we learned from Zoomtopia last week
We had an amazing time at Zoomtopia last week and are thrilled that our t-shirts were such a hit with the Zoom community!
1. Zoom wants to build one app to rule them all
Zoom has plans and aspirations.
Not content with being the video conferencing tool, Zoom is on a mission to build a platform and eco-system for everything related to meetings and work collaboration.
Products Zoom is working on right now include:
Calendars and booking forms (watch out Calendly and ChiliPiper!)
Collaboration docs like spreadsheets and word processing (watch out Dropbox, Google Docs, Office 365!)
Making hybrid meeting events better and more inclusive using AI and hardware
2. There is still a lot of humility in the senior Zoom leadership
The last few years have been good for Zoom as the world transitions to flexible working and hybrid working.
That success could breed hubris, but we found everyone at Zoom to be humble about their success and immensely approachable.
If anything, we found that they still behave like a startup.
That humility starts from the top with CEO Eric Yuan who made time to visit the Zoom partner booths where StreamAlive and others were exhibiting to learn more about our products.
3. Zoom is actually an engineering-led company rather than sales- or marketing-led
This was quite surprising for us, but Eric Yuan is so committed to building a stable, fast, responsive product that can work on all connection types that it’s very much an engineering-led company.
We learned that any new feature they add to their suite of products needs to have use and value for at least 80% of their user base. Anything less than that then they encourage their partner eco-system to provide solutions for their users.
4. Zoom is committed to building an app marketplace
Related to 2 & 3 above, Zoom recognizes that it can’t build every feature that its users want or offer every service that they might need.
Instead, it’s being very proactive in encouraging a thriving ecosystem of partners (like StreamAlive!) to provide products and services that add value to its users.
We were surprised to hear about the joint venture between Zoom and AMC Theaters which provides Zoom Rooms in cinemas that companies can hire for hybrid events.
5. Zoom is going all-in on hybrid
Every other word that came out of a Zoom employee’s mouth was "Wow! StreamAlive is amazing!” hybrid.
(To be fair, every Zoom employee and Zoomtopia attendee that we showed StreamAlive to was excited by the opportunities that StreamAlive offers).
Zoom is looking to be the pioneer of the hybrid workplace. This means setting the standards for people collaborating in a hybrid environment from projects to meetings.
Everything that Zoom is developing from hardware to software to its AI capabilities is designed to facilitate hybrid working and make sure remote is as frictionless as in-person.
We were so happy to be a part of Zoomtopia and share their vision of delivering limitless human connections.
The Slide-Streaming & Livestreaming TL;DR
It’s been a busy week in the world of livestreaming and slide-streaming. Here’s a rundown of the stories we’ve been reading:
📃Zoom introduces Zoom Docs for seamless collaboration
Zoom recently announced their competitor to Office 365, Google Workspaces, and Dropbox with Zoom Docs. It lets you effortlessly collaborate and work on documents during Zoom meetings. Time will tell if it becomes as popular as Google Workspaces and Office 365 eco-systems.
🛍️How Amazon, eBay, TikTok, and HSN are shaping the future of e-commerce
The next 12 months are going to see a slew of livestream commerce projects taking off. Some, like Amazon and TikTok, are ahead of the game and reaping the benefits, while eBay and HSN are still in the nascent stages but believe that livestream commerce will become a key part of their strategy.
🎙️What’s new in Microsoft Teams (a lot!)
While Zoom made a slew of announcements and bets on the future at Zoomtopia, competitors like Teams are not going to make it for them. Teams have also announced a range of updates and partnerships with brands like Yamaha, Poly, DTEN and Aver to bring Teams-compatible tech devices to the meeting rooms.
Catch us on our social pages
If you haven’t already, check out our social media pages to stay updated on our quirky takes on the latest social media trends and the occasional piece of engagement-related advice.
All the best,
Lux and the StreamAlive team