VodPod launches

VodPod, a San Francisco startup where I’ve helped out a little as an advisor, has officially opened their doors today. Congrats! VodPod let’s you build video collections/groups. Videos can be uploaded by users or aggregated from other sites like YouTube or MetaCafe. They already have enthusiasts video groups forming around topics like birding and unicycling.

I met Mark Hall, a VodPod co-founder, while I was still at Yahoo. He had just moved to San Francisco from London and was reaching out to connect with people in the Bay Area. I liked him immediately and we stayed in touch. A little while later, he started working on his own startup and I’ve been glad to pipe in with the occasional piece of advice. I think Mark has done a great job building his business in a thoughtful and bootstrapped way. In the wake of YouTube, there’s been an explosion of video hosting and sharing sites. I think Mark and his team will be successful by allowing people to aggregate videos from across all those sites into communities of interest.