Analysis: Mike Volpi Would Make a Great Joost CEO, but Does He Know Content?

Authored by Jay Baage on May 31, 2007 - 3:20pm.

Mike Volpi, formerly known as the Crown Prince to John Chambers at router maker Cisco Systems, is reportedly joining the hyped web TV service Joost as Chief Executive Officer. I interviewed Volpi when he was at Cisco and he made a strong impression as one of the smartest executives I’ve ever met. However, he comes from a tech background - as do Joost founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis - and I would have expected them to find someone who knows the ins and outs of Hollywood and the TV programming business to take Joost to the next level.

This is the story: Volpi was, for the last few years, the presumptive heir to Cisco's CEO spot, but somewhat surprisingly he left the company earlier this year citing personal reasons. At the time, rumors spurred that the real reason for Volpi’s departure was that he felt stuck since Cisco's 56-year-old CEO John Chambers had no apparent plans to leave and Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo sailed up as next in-line if he did so.

Since then, Volpi has been “hanging around Sequoia Capital’s offices”, according to NewTeeVee. Sequoia is one of the big investors in Joost, which recently raised $45 million in venture funding. With the new war chest, it seems natural that current CEO Fredrik de Wahl, who has shepherded the project into beta launch, will step down in favor of “a professional CEO”, as they say.

Volpi certainly fits the mold. In the post-bubble years since 2000, he was named Chief Strategy Officer for Cisco in addition to his prior responsibilities including managing strategic alliances and business development. Since joining Cisco in 1994, Volpi has been closely involved in Cisco’s acquisition of 70 companies as well as integrating those into Cisco.

But here comes the questions: Does he know the particulars of the television business to successfully navigate Joost through the shark infested waters of LA and New York? Does he have to? Is the reported hiring of Volpi indicative that Joost does not see itself as being in the business of content – it is basically an open distribution platform for anyone that is interested in putting content up there?

So far, the company has inked content deals with CBS and Viacom, as well as independent production companies. It claims 150 channels of content with shows such as "CSI" and "Beavis and Butthead." In other words, it is a pretty eclectic mix of content with seemingly no particular structure or common theme. In any case, the content business is like no other, dealing with moguls, monster producers and talent. That is something Volpi, as far as I know, does not know much about. But he is a smart guy and with the right advisors I have no doubt that he would make a great Joost CEO.

Joakim Baage