When SiliconANGLE Media Inc. was founded Dave Vellante and John Furrier set out to create a new kind of company, one that would combine research (Wikibon), real-time reporting (SilconANGLE.com), and live video event coverage (theCUBE). The result was a unique and highly targeted formula for delivering high-quality information in real-time using advanced technology tools combined with established journalistic techniques. The goal was an authoritative, engaging media experience that would satisfy the information needs of a large and diverse audience while separating the signal from the noise.

SiliconANGLE Media has since developed its digital transformation around its three primary pillars, SiliconANGLE, theCUBE and Wikibon, even attracting new executives through such transformative initiatives. SiliconANGLE, the company’s independent media operation, currently reaches more than 10,000 technology professionals daily. Now headed by Rob Hof since 2016, formerly with BusinessWeek and the creator of the New Persuaders blog, SiliconANGLE has evolved into a respected media outlet with major, ongoing coverage of the broad scope of the technology world.

The company’s digital video content team, theCUBE, has emerged as the leading live streaming TV event coverage and interview format with millions of viewers around the world.  Under the guidance of General Manager Jeff Frick and Senior Managing Editor Kristen Nicole Martin, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio broadcast on 135 days last year from locations across the globe, including Spain and China. The “ESPN of Tech” has built a sizable library of video and written content and boasts a stellar list of technology leaders as guests from interviews over many years.

The third pillar encompasses Wikibon, the company’s influential research division. The team of Wikibon researchers is headed by Peter Burris, who came to SiliconANGLE Media in 2016 after a lengthy career with Forrester. Wikibon’s analysts were the first to define and size the big data market and correctly predict the emergence of flash as a dominant force in storage technology.

Silicon Valley studio opened

There were a number of “firsts” for SiliconANGLE Media in 2017. The firm opened its first studio in Palo Alto, California (the other broadcast facility is in Boston, Massachusetts) and inaugurated a series of CUBE Conversations with senior-level executives from Silicon Valley. The company made its first visit to China, broadcasting interviews from The Computing Conference, featuring executives from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. And theCUBE added two new website features to complement its live broadcasting schedule.

The first feature — theCUBE Alumni Database — includes every guest who has appeared on the streaming channel and is searchable through a range of titles (C-suite executives, developers, bloggers, analysts). Every guest has his or her own profile page.

The second feature is a new technology and set of product around video — VideoClipper — which allows users to extract video clips of interviews with enterprise leaders from segments of synchronized text. Every guest’s appearance on theCUBE is transcribed, and VideoClipper offers an opportunity to explore and use more than 35,000 video segments covering many facets of the information technology world.

“Clips can be shared through various social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook,” said Dave Vellante (@dvellante), host of theCUBE, during an appearance at SiliconANGLE Media’s Boston studio. “We have this vision for data-driven media and innovation.”

“2017 added another first – the maturing of our media technology platform,” says John Furrier cofounder.  “2017 was the year we are seeing benefits to both users and sponsors for digital services.  For the first time, every piece of our content is indexed and addressable to word level – from every story, every interview, to every tweet, and contribution has been indexed and discoverable. What this means is our sponsors will see more scale and return on investment to their Cube Sponsorships and Wikibon engagements.”

New chief revenue officer joins team

The end of 2017 was also marked by the addition of Greg Theriault (@gtheriault, pictured) as SiliconANGLE Media’s new chief revenue officer. The former senior vice president of North America Core Sales for Forrester, Theriault brings a valuable perspective on the industry, having worked with a number of large enterprise clients over many years.

In a conversation during an appearance on theCUBE with Vellante, Theriault expressed a healthy appreciation for the company’s role in covering an industry moving at warp speed.

“I’ve never seen so much disruption, from client-server to social computing to artificial intelligence,” Theriault said. “The innovation and speed really attracted me to the company, along with the [opportunity] to build really powerful content.”

Theriault has seen the influence of new technologies in the sales profession and has grown to appreciate the importance of leveraging social media. “Buyers buy differently, but they also need to see a different presence in social,” Theriault said. “You have to build systems, processes and technologies wrapped around how you help the customer be successful to drive growth.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations.

Photo: SiliconANGLE