Startup of the Day - SolSpectrum

SolSpectrum’s UniQube platform is a dynamic, in-stream ad placement platform that provides a unique advertising experience to enhance brand and product exposure across multiple mediums such as web, mobile, and TV.

Website: www.uniqube.tv.

Interview with Boram Lee, Founder and CEO of SolSpectrum

Tell us who you are and your role in the company.

I am the Founder and CEO of SolSpectrum. As CEO, I am responsible for the overall vision and direction of the company. Also, I’ve invested a lot of effort into building the right team to carry out the vision for SolSpectrum.

What did you do before creating your company?

I am also the CEO of Digital Oasis, the No.1 web agency & online marketing company in South Korea. The company has a many project experiences building in-stream solution, social network services and online properties for large enterprises such as Samsung and Toyota.

How do you feel being the most promising ‘Startup of the Day’ per Microsoft BizSpark?

This is an exciting opportunity to continue building our relationship with Microsoft and promoting the product that SolSpectrum has created.

What is your company’s mission?

SolSpectrum has a mission to Engage, Enrich, and Entertain. This means that users’ engagement is maximized, users’ web experience is more enriched and the most important thing, we want to entertain users with in-stream media leveraging the UniQube platform.

How did you get the idea? What s the genesis?

Being the CEO of Digital Oasis, I have a unique opportunity to see market and user trends much sooner than most people. There was a realization several years ago towards the use of video, content, and social networking

In 140 characters or less, tell us what your company does:

SolSpectrum’s UniQube platform is a dynamic, in-stream ad placement platform that provides a unique advertising experience to enhance brand and product exposure across multiple mediums such as web, mobile, and TV.

Tell us about your funding history. Are you currently looking for funding? If so, how much?

SolSpectrum has not accepted any outside funding to date. We are looking for additional funding at this time to bring the product to market, both in Korea and in the US. The ideal level of funding is $8-10M USD.

How many employees do you have? How many developers?

12 employees including 5 developers.

Are you hiring? If yes, what are you hiring and where?

Yes, we are hiring at this time. We are looking for developers and designers in South Korea.

Which platform are you building on? Why?

We’ve built out UniQube platform on Silverlight and .NET because we have a firm belief in the potential of Silverlight and wanted to create a solution that would allow us to fully showcase the Silverlight technology.

Where do you see opportunities today in the Software/internet area?

An opportunity for a paradigm shift in the way we communicate and consume content is where I believe the next big wave is going to come from. Look at what Google is doing with Google Wave. Look at the popularity of Twitter and Facebook. These are all forms of a on-going paradigm shift towards new models of engagement on the internet.

What do you think about the BizSpark Program?

First of all, start-up companies are able to reduce software purchase cost, so they can well concentrate on development, marketing and other business work. Many Korean companies hope to do business in America, but they do not have communication channels for PR and users’ feedback. The Program solves these difficulties to some extent.

Do you have any advice for young Software entrepreneurs?

Stay positive and focused on the goals you’ve set out to achieve. Never lose that passion that made you jump into this game in the first place. And most importantly, don’t be afraid to fail as we all have at one time or another.

Who’s your role model?

Steve Jobs for his vision and leadership that has shifted the paradigm of communication and entertainment forever.

What’s the ONE THING you would like readers to take away from this interview

I’d like readers to understand that we’ve built a great platform in our UniQube product and that we are ready for the next stage of growth.