WEBVTT - Telly Founder Ilya Pozin Previews 2024's First New Features 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.239 Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:14.720 which we speak with some of the brightest minds working 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.959 in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety. 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.319 Want a free TV, and not just any TV, but 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.400 a fifty five inch top of the line stay to 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:29.080 the art screen. You'd probably have to pay more than 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.600 a thousand bucks if you wanted to hang one in 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:35.400 your living room. Well, my next guest has an interesting 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:39.120 proposition for you, but it comes with some strings attached. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.640 We'll be back with Ilia Posen, CEO and founder of 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:54.600 Telly to explain in just a moment. And we are 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:59.440 back with Ilia Posen, CEO and founder of Telly, which 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:04.080 just be the most audacious new product introduced this year, 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.880 and he's just getting started. There's some new interactive features 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.800 we're going to highlight from Telly as well. But first, 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:11.880 thanks for being with us. 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:14.840 Alia, Hey, thanks for having me so. 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.120 As I referenced to the top of the show, you 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.600 have been given out free TVs. You pledged in May 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.000 you were going to give out about half a million 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:25.880 of them by the end of the year here in 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.119 the US, and as we sit here having this conversation 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.680 in late December. Have you reached that goal? 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.760 You know, we've we've set out to build this product. 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.839 We've built an amazing team, and we've we've put. 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:41.360 Out thousands of thousands of units. 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.600 And you know, one thing we've done that's really really 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.600 different is when we announced this company publicly in May, 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:52.440 we had an astonishing number of people that were interested 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:56.720 in our product. Honestly blew away our expectations. We had 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:58.040 nearly nearly half. 0:01:57.840 --> 0:01:59.640 A million people are currently on our wait list. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.480 We spent zero dollars in marketing. We had to sign 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.040 up every single second. The types of people that signed 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.400 up were mirror the US population, so they're you know, 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.360 everyone's very interest in the high quality product that we've built. 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:17.399 The other thing that happened was we attracted manufacturers that 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:20.919 wouldn't even return our calls in the beginning, right, these 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:23.840 are the top tier ones that you know, make the 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:24.960 best products. 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.079 In the world, and as a startup, they don't really 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:26.919 give you the time of day. 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:31.600 But once they saw the tremendous response the consumer demand, 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.840 we started to have, you know, more serious conversations and 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:35.920 we thought, you know what. 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:37.000 Let's take advantage of that. 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.720 Let's slower roll let's send thousands and thousands of units 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.160 now which we have, Let's kind of iterate and build 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.840 this product together and have a much bigger and stronger 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:46.359 twenty four. 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.960 Well, my guess is the the Samsungs of the world 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.240 or other companies that make the kind of screens that 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.760 go into Telli probably thought you were crazy, I mean 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:04.000 giving these screens away. Now that you've proven that you 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:09.240 could get these screens out the door, what is what 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:11.399 are you going to do in twenty twenty four? Are 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.080 you going to now you know, how many more screens 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:15.840 do you plan on giving out? And are you going 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.320 to give them out for free? Because I'm sure people 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.239 listening to this are gonna be banging at your door. 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:23.480 Yeah, great question. 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.120 Now people assume that free is just like an initial offer, 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:29.320 and then adventurely we're going to start charging for our product. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:30.400 It's always going to be free. 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:33.480 We're planning on delivering a lot of units in twenty four. 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.480 And if you look at the TV today and I 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.480 know you had a chance to see, it's it's a 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.000 state of the RTV. And don't let the price point 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:43.520 of free throw you off. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.760 Right. This is not a low budget TV targeted at 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.880 low income folks. This is this is. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:51.160 A high MTV And as you said in the beginning 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:53.080 of your program, right, if we sold this thing, it 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:53.480 will be. 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:54.760 Well over one thousand dollars. 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.000 It comes with those screens, that's got a sound bar 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.040 made by Harmon cart and it can do who calls 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.760 on Zoom and play amazing music and through Spotify and 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.080 you know, and so many more things that's got to 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.640 pull voice assistant built in. These are all things that 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.240 your TV just simply can't do, right, And that's the 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.320 way where we've built Kelly. It's kind of kind of 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:17.120 taken a page out of you know, like like the 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.440 Tesla playbook, if you will, where the car is overloaded 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.160 with extra computing power, extra hardware, and it becomes better 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:25.680 and better and better over time. 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:25.960 Right. 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.880 So at Telly, we release software updates every month, and 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:30.440 this thing improves time. 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:31.640 Over time over time. Right. 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:33.919 So, you know, we didn't have a voice assistant a 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.400 few weeks ago, right now we do. We have a 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.040 karaoke remote coming soon. We would be able to pick 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.400 up your remote control and sing into it, right, and 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.720 so many other cool features that will make this thing 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:46.960 by far the state of the art device. And truly 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.800 kind of the heartbeat of the living room, the main 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.919 device in the home. And our goal here is in 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.960 the same way that the iPhone became, you know, the 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.279 main device out of the home, right, the main device 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.640 on you. The TV is still that device that brings 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:03.200 the family together. 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.080 Right, And it kind of missed the mark. 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.560 TVs haven't really changed in over ten years, right, and 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.200 it kind of stayed the same. And our goal is 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.039 to reintroduce this thing and bring the smartest TV in 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:13.480 the market. 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:15.440 And this thing is just going to take over your 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:15.880 living room. 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.240 Well okay, now, obviously some people listening to this are 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.640 going to be saying this can't this is too good 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.280 to be true. So we have to explain a few things. 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:29.039 Number One, Telly is no ordinary TV. Attached to this 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:33.280 great fifty five inch piece of hardware is a second, 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:38.200 smaller screen at the bottom that is always showing commercials. 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:41.040 You cannot turn it off when the screen is on. 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:46.440 Number Two, if you are privacy sensitive, Telly may not 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:49.800 be for you. It comes equipped with a camera and 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:54.240 a censure a sensor that watches what you're watching in 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:57.920 order to deliver that information to advertisers, and you have 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.560 to fill out a battery of more than one hundred 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:04.560 questions about all kinds of consumer behavior just to use 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.359 Telly in the first place. That is, if you're lucky 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.200 to even get selected. Not everyone who wants a free 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.159 Telly gets one. So you know what I mean, what 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:17.719 percentage of people who you know who even come to 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:19.640 you actually even get a TV? 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:21.880 Yeah? All good questions. 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.400 So, first of all, everyone's everyone's qualified to get a Telly, right, 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:27.680 as long as as long as you sign up and 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.760 you opt in to our terms of service, you're qualified 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:31.400 to get the TV. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.920 We don't. We don't select people based on any kind 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:34.720 of bias, right. 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.680 So, so, and from a from a data and privacy perspective, 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.400 you know, we're one hundred percent privacy first as a company. 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:43.839 If you look at what's happening in all the other 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.000 TVs when you purchase, you know, any other TV on 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:48.880 the market, you're buying the. 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:50.520 TV and they also sell your data. 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.800 They deliver advertising, right, and our consumers recognize that that 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.400 revenue is being double dipped on. I'm already paying for it, 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.080 and I'm my my data is being used there selling advertising. 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.120 You know why am I paying twice? And they're realizing 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.800 that with Telly, we're just upfront about it. We're completely 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.920 transparent about it, and you're right. At the sign up process, 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.160 we ask a number of you know, demographic and psychographic 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:14.920 questions that that are. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.560 That are utilized to target advertising. 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.200 That are specific to you, right, because all ads aren't equal, 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.200 and the ads that are shown to you are could 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:25.480 be different that are shown to me because consumers want advertising, 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.360 but they want that advertising to be relevant. 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:27.560 Right. 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.360 When when consumers hate ads, it's when they're when they don't, 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.760 they don't, they don't belong and they you know, they 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.080 just they shouldn't be there and they interrupt your experience. 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.640 But more importantly, that bottom screen that you mentioned, yes, 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:40.880 there are. 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:42.760 You know, when you watch the top screen, the bottom 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.200 screen comes along with it. But if you look at. 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.680 Any any consumer feedback and any of our data, people 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.280 love it. It's not a distraction. The best parallel I 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.440 can give to It's kind of like the dashboard to 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:55.840 your car. Right, the top screen your windshield, the bottom 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.280 is your a dometer, your speedometer, your. 0:07:58.240 --> 0:07:59.040 Radio, your nav. 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.440 You know, we show actor information then news and weather 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:04.840 and sports scores, so you know, if you're watching your 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.760 favorite sports team playing on you know, on a broadcast network. 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.120 We can show you scores around the country kind of 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.080 like the lower third on the bottom screen, or a newsticker, 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:17.720 magical browsing Netflix, and your Rotten Tomatoes reviews pop up 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.040 right there in the bottom right. So the first and 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:21.480 foremost the priority of. 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:25.360 That screen is to enhance your content viewing experience. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.760 But yes, there is advertising, and that advertising is there 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:29.640 to support. 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.160 The fact that the TV is free, and we're very 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:32.839 upfront about it. 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.920 You're opting into that, and we're fully transparent, right, and 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:42.040 the consumer understands that, and they understand the value stream understood. 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.240 But I think people myself included, are going to wonder, 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.680 how are you making money if you're giving these things away? 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.240 It's not coming from the consumer, or is there some 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.600 other revenue source, or is this the kind of thing 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:59.400 in sort of you know classic you know, Silicon Valley style, 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:03.360 you know, is it just about scaling and you'll worry 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:06.640 about making money later? What's the business here? 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:07.680 Yeah? 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.319 No, we're making money in the same way that any 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:14.200 other TV manufacturer makes money. Right when when a Visio 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.000 or Samsung sells you a TV, there's hardly any margin 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:19.520 on the hardware anyway, there's pretty much no money for them. 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:20.080 To be made there. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.960 Right, We're just our business model is just better that 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.960 we're able to make more money in the same business streams, 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:28.920 in the same revenue streams that they are. So it's 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:33.360 no different, right. TV makers are monetizing data, they're delivering ads, 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:35.560 and we're doing the exact same thing, except we're not 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:36.400 selling your TV. 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.480 And once again, if you look back at the playbook 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.280 of Pluto, same idea. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.480 We don't have to charge your subscription fee and deliver 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.960 advertising to you like cable companies do. Pluto has built 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:52.319 a very successful and very sustainable business on just ads alone, right, 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.720 And so initially we as a company pay for the TV, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.640 right and we deliver it to you in your home. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.640 TVs are used for a very very long time, right. 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.080 The average American family watches over five and a half 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.520 hours of television every single day. The primary TV is 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:11.560 about sixty percent of that viewing. That's you know, three 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.560 four hours a day of usage. That's a lot of 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.319 TV time on your primary TV. That's also a lot 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.720 of opportunities for advertisers to be able to reach the 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:21.319 consumer with relevant ads. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.760 Right, So I think that's that's where our business model works. 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.720 Is we're able to deliver relevant advertising, performance advertising, not 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.120 just brand awareness advertising, and do it in a way 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.520 where build a sustainable business, where we're able to give 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.240 away the hardware and then you have a clear direct 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:37.600 value exchange with the consumer. 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.319 Now, I want to get into some of the new 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:45.080 stuff you've got coming, because there's now going to be 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:50.720 some sort of new interactive features coming to Telly, Which 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:52.880 isn't to say that there's nothing interactive. I know you 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.560 guys have some QR codes that you're playing with, but 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.920 let's talk about some of the browser functionality that you 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:04.160 have coming to tell you, Yeah. 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.400 This is super excited about this one. So typically when you. 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.679 See ads on TV, it's a it's a fifteen second 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:15.480 or thirty second commercial sandwiched in between content, right, and from. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.280 A brand perspective, that's a great way. 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:19.640 To get awareness for your product, but it's not a 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.319 great way to get performance out of it. Right when 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.880 that add is in between content. As a consumer, you 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:26.880 can't wait to get back to the content, so people 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.040 don't really engage on that ad. There's not enough time 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.200 to take your phone out to scan up your RCO 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.480 or maybe take your computer out and go to a 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.880 website or something. Right for us, performance is critical, and 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:41.000 because we have that screen on the bottom that's there 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:41.960 the entire time. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.600 Let's say you're watching a program. 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.160 And then ad for I don't know, Toyota Tundra comes 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.320 on the on the screen on the main screen, we 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:52.960 can show you a relevant ad on the bottom screen 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.960 or a local Tundra offer in your local market. And 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.600 what's coming very soon in aut a month is you'll 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.000 actually be able to take your remote out and click 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.360 that ad and a full browser open, so you could 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.959 schedule a test drive, you could purchase a product, and 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.000 an e commerce website, you can download an app, you 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.880 can you know, tune into a program, opt into whatever. 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.640 So in the same way that on your phone or 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.160 your computer, you can engage in ad by clicking on it. 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:25.040 We're bringing the exact same ability technology and engagement into 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:25.720 the living room. 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:26.600 And people have been. 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.439 Trying to kind of bridge this gap between performance and 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.080 awareness and living room, but let's be honest, it's never 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.160 really going to be done on a single screen, right 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.840 because because once the content comes back and you have 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:40.240 fifteen seconds to engage, but because we have this dedicated 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:43.760 screen on the bottom. The odds are persistent and there's 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.040 plenty of time to engage the unit and take out 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:47.520 the remote and take active. 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:52.880 But wait, there's more, as they say, in terms of interactivity, 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:58.959 T commerce, which is something that has been bouncing around 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:03.520 the margins of the television industry for decades. Now, you 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.760 guys are also coming to that's also coming to Telly. 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.199 Now what are you well, first of all, explain T 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.720 commerce for those who don't know what it is and 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.480 how that is also coming to Telly. 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:17.520 Yeah. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.160 So, so transacting on the TV is something we've all 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.160 been doing for a very long time, right, right, say 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.320 you want to find a favorite movie, you want to 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:27.320 buy them on you know, on pay per view or 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:29.800 through Google or through Apple, right you can or Roku, 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:31.720 you can buy. You can find your favorite movie and 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:33.840 purchase it for two ninety nine, three nine nine or 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.600 what have you, and of course sign up for your 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.560 favorite subscription service things like that. 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.439 But actual purchase of products. 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.920 Has been something that typically happens on your phone or 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:48.439 your computer, right, But it doesn't really happen on TV. 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:50.920 Even though we buy movies, but we don't buy products. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:54.160 The browser is going to bring that as well as 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.880 some of the native integrations we're doing with some of 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.679 our upcoming advertising partners. Right, So imagine you're wall I 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.760 don't know, it's twelve thirty, You're watching a football game. 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.600 It's sponsored by Pizza Hut. We show you an ad 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.520 for Pizza Hut on that bottom screen. You take your 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.920 remote out, you click that ad, and you're purchasing a 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.920 pizza without interrupting the game right there on that bottom screen. 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:18.640 The best way to look at that screen is it's 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.040 almost like a mobile tablet attached to your TV. 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:25.080 Right. It uses the data and it's synchronized. 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:26.840 Well what's happening up top, but it's also independent so 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:28.280 it doesn't disrupt the experience. 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:33.239 So, knowing kind of your location and where. 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:36.320 You are and maybe your favorite pizza topics, we can 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:38.720 get a consumer to easily purchased a pizza under. 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:44.160 A minute's I could totally understand how that could be 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:49.400 something that would be a real game changer for t commerce, which, 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.520 let's be honest, we've been talking about, you know, the 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:57.800 proverbial example of you know, Jennifer Aniston sweater, which is 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.480 people have been talking I think since the year two thousand. 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:02.480 I look this up. 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.560 Was when people talked about, you know, you should be 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.080 able to click on that on the screen and buy that. 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:14.240 But here we are twenty three or four years later, 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.440 and it's never really got in mainstream yet. Maybe it 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.720 does take a second screen to do that. 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.560 It has to write because if you click on it, 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:25.360 where does anything show up? 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.080 Right, You're going to overlay your friend's episode. 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.960 That's a horrible experience and it just that doesn't really 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.560 play well for the consumer or for the rights folder 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.560 frankly of the content right, But for us because there's 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:41.720 a second screen. It's once again it mirrors the idea 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:45.200 that over eighty percent of consumers when they're watching TV 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.560 are looking at a second screen already on their phone. Right, 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.720 they're right there, they're looking they're distracted to look at 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.320 a second screen. We actually reduced that distraction by putting 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:54.760 information right there fronting center. 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.840 We'll be back in just a moment with more with 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:12.400 Ilia posen CEO and founder of Telly. And we are 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:16.320 back with the CEO and founder of Telly, Ilia Posen. 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:22.360 Ilia talk about the funding it took to get Telly 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:23.680 off the ground. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:25.560 We do have some amazing investors. 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.320 Uh, you know, I think ones that a lot of 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.000 your listeners are familiar with, you know, ones like kind 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.440 of rich Gienfields for example, fun Light Shed who's an 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:36.440 analyst in the space. 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.000 He's one of our lead investors in this round. 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.840 And many many, many others that are both in media 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.040 and advertising, like the founders of Spoducts that sell their 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.720 copy for our billion to Magnete and so forth. So 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:53.480 we've got great people, uh that have invested in company 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.040 so far, and a lot of and a lot of 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.560 investors waiting to continue funding us in our future rounds. 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.920 What is it going to look like in terms of 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:08.440 do you need more funding to keep going anytime soon 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:11.399 or are you good where you are right now? 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:13.639 Yeah, that's that's a great question. 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.840 The way startups are typically funded is you know, to 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:23.960 protect shareholders, right, employees, founders and investors, you always raise 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.080 capital in multiple rounds. It's kind of like a game 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:28.880 of football, right where you you get it first down, 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.080 you move the change forward, and then you keep going. 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:32.960 You don't want to over over. 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.120 Raise too much capital early on in your business because 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.280 you're going to take a lot of dilution, So you 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.760 want to you want to raise some capital. You want 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.280 to achieve your milestones, right, then you want to raise 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:46.359 more capital at a higher evaluation. And we plan on 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.520 doing that, you know, for for the unforeseeable future. I mean, 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.080 if youve know, if you look at public companies, they're 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.040 raising capital continuously from the. 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:55.879 From the public market. So that's that's kind of a 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.000 standard order of business, if you will. 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:02.280 Of course, you know you've been down this road before 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:08.120 in Pluto, which you co founded, and that company went 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.720 on to get acquired by the company that is now 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:16.080 known as Paramount Global. Got to wonder, you know, is 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.840 tell you something you're committed to taking on an independent 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:23.680 path or is this something that is bound to perhaps 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:28.400 get acquired by one of any number of hardware giants 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:30.760 out there that's already in the television game? 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.920 Yeah, I think you know, any good entrepreneur will tell 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.320 you that they're never building a company to sell, all right, Right, 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.400 And even when Pluto was was when we got an 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:43.560 offer from at that point it was Viacom, you know, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.840 Viacom to get acquired. We weren't in the market to sell, 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.680 right they We actually went went to went to Vicom for. 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.639 A confident deal and they gave us attention. 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.200 So planning on doing the same thing here with Telly, 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:57.880 where where we have. 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.920 An opportunity the market's you know ours for the taken. 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.119 We've got great momentum, great leads, huge consumer demand. We 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:07.639 built a put out a build, and put out a 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.760 great product that everyone's using for many, many hours every 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.919 single day. I think I think would be foolish to 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:15.760 go out and try to sell this company early in 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.520 the market right now where we want to stay independent 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:19.840 as long as possible. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:22.119 Well, here's the thing, as I look at what you 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:26.200 guys are doing. To me, the surest sign of success 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:31.240 for Telly is if we see any of the established 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:35.560 players out there copy what you're doing and which the 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.840 natural next question is what kind of patent protection do 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:43.120 you even have on this, you know, second screen configuration 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:44.640 that you have out there? 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.760 Yeah, great question. We look, we fire filed a ton 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:50.280 of patents on what. 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:54.560 We've built, and that's something we're continuously doing. But at 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:56.280 the end of the day, you know, you and I 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.320