Conviva Raises $20M Second Round
This past week, Conviva (formerly called Rinera Networks) announced it has secured $20M in a second round of financing. CMU computer science professor Hui Zhang is one of the co-founders and the Chief Scientist for Conviva. Ion Stoica, a graduate of our Ph.D. program and now a professor at Berkeley, is another of the co-founders.
To the many of us here who know Hui well, it is no surprise that Conviva’s business involves high-definition, interactive, live media delivery. Check out their web site at http://www.conviva.com — it demonstrates some possibilities with an interactive broadcast of an auto race. As a race fan, I’m really looking forward to this! Oh, and Conviva’s success should also mean the return of Hui to more regular teaching, advising, and research on campus.
Peter Lee @ September 1, 2008
Perhaps he can share his experience of a successful industrial venture with grad students too!!!
The company isn’t as successful as you may think. Hui is a nice guy but lacks business skills. The students he hires also lacks any business sense and people skills are even worst. What Hui should share with you is how the company failed (failing) and what he learned from this. More importantly what he did wrong and how he can help you to avoid the many pit falls he made.