VitalStream Joins NASDAQ

VitalStream goes live on NASDAQ today ...

VitalStream Stock to Begin Trading on NASDAQ Capital Market Today; Management Will Ring NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell Tomorrow to Commemorate Start of Trading

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2006--VitalStream Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSTH), a world leader in audio and video streaming, today announced that the Company's stock will be listed and trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "VSTH" effective at market open today, Wednesday, June 21, 2006. Most recently, VitalStream's common stock traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "VSHI."

To commemorate its listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market, VitalStream's chairman and CEO Jack Waterman and president and COO Philip N. Kaplan will be on site at NASDAQ in Times Square to ring the NASDAQ Stock Market closing bell on June 22, 2006 at 4:00 pm EDT.

"We are delighted that VitalStream's stock will be traded on the NASDAQ market, home of many of the world's leading technology companies," said Jack Waterman.

A web link to a broadcast of the NASDAQ ceremony will be available
here.

VitalStream Approved for Listing on NASDAQ

This from Business Wire ...

VitalStream Approved for Listing on NASDAQ Capital Market; Trading to Begin June 21 Under Symbol ''VSTH''

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2006--VitalStream Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:VSHI), a world leader in audio and video streaming, today announced that its common stock has been approved for listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market. VitalStream's common stock will commence trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market at the open of the market on Wednesday, June 21, 2006, under the new ticker symbol "VSTH." Until that date, VitalStream's common stock will continue to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "VSHI."

"The approval of our stock for listing on NASDAQ is a significant strategic milestone in VitalStream's progress and development as a publicly traded company," stated Jack Waterman, chairman and chief executive officer of VitalStream.

"Advancing to a listing on NASDAQ mirrors the growth we have experienced from a customer, product and revenue standpoint. VitalStream's mission is to help content owners distribute and monetize their digital media assets online and transitioning the trading of our stock to a world-class market complements the growth we are seeing in our business and our sector," added Philip N. Kaplan, VitalStream's president and chief operating officer.

High-Stakes Game

The San Francisco Chronicle caught up with Larry Marcus at a conference on digital media organized by IBD Network. Here's an excerpt:

One thing that was abundantly clear Tuesday: It's going to be crowded. Many companies are working on very similar ventures, whether it's podcasting, online music, communities, video or mobile applications.

"There's some real over-funding that's going on in a lot of spaces," said Larry Marcus, managing director of Walden VC, a San Francisco venture capital firm. He cited online video editing, social networking and blogging.

But at the same time, Marcus said, "The stakes seem as big as they ever seemed for Web companies. The opportunity to have a major impact is clear. It's more obvious that there will be a lot of value creation this time, because of the companies that made it in the first big wave of the Web. There are also more players from established companies and industries who realize the Web is an imperative."

1 + 1 = 4

Advertisers are increasingly recognizing the power of Internet radio. Check out this commentary from Media Daily News ...

Advertisers should also be aware of the precision targeting afforded to them by advances in centralized ad serving and geo-targeting for streaming audio. Audio streaming ad trafficking tools currently have the ability to deliver a unique ad in a live radio stream to each individual desktop based on that listener's profile. So, take that fast-food advertiser and imagine the streamed spot being for "our new deluxe salads" to the 35-year-old female user in cubicle 1 and for the "big burger meal" for the 21-year-old Web designer in cubicle 2. Both ads push to the station Web site (or trigger in the station's audio player) for a coupon good for that day only. That's truly leveraging the megaphone of the radio, with the pinpoint targeting of the Web.

And, according to a recent Magid/MediaSpan research study, radio Web site visitors are some of the most loyal on the Web, with two-thirds of station Web site visitors visiting the sites weekly, and nearly a quarter visiting daily. This "committed relationship" provides a perfect opportunity for local radio to develop Web/streaming/on-air promotions that leverage a dedicated audience who already have PCs, broadband and radios tuned to their favorite station. In the office, radio is a huge complement to the Web--and with add-ons like streaming and integrated station Web sites, the combo can help advertisers make the 1+1=3 leap.


Pandora, which offers each listener his or her own personalized radio stream, provides advertisers with an even more attractive environment for brand-building.

No Fish Story

Red Herring offers some insight into Palamida's recent funding announcement.

Analysts are optimistic about the potential market for open source licensing and compliance management software. Dana Gardner, a principal analyst with Interarbor Solutions, said the market could reach “dozens of millions just in the short term.”

Mr. Gardner said that the risk associated with just “one or two big lawsuits” justified the investments in managing software properly.

Enter the Video Ad Network

BlueLithium has just launched the first video streaming ad network with behavioral targeting capabilities.

BlueLithium's AdRoll allows advertisers to target streaming ads to people who've already visited their Web site-as they travel across other sites in the BlueLithium network. For example, a person who visits the site of a major wireless phone provider and then goes to other sites in the BlueLithium network would see a targeted video ad from that wireless phone company, driving them back to the site for upselling or to complete a purchase. AdRoll is the first and only streaming video network that enables advertisers to do behavioral retargeting, which has been shown to improve click-through and conversion rates by over 300 percent.

Palamida Closes New Round

Palamida just announced that it has closed a new round.

Palamida, a provider of software intellectual property (IP) management and compliance products and services, today announced that it has raised $8 million in its second round of venture capital financing. The Series B funding, which was led by Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, includes Series A investors Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and WaldenVC.

"The international reach and reputation that Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners brings to Palamida will be invaluable as we expand worldwide, and we are very pleased that they are joining our existing investors," said Mark Tolliver, Palamida CEO. "The world of software development has changed, and today's software projects contain contributions from many sources, including open source. This 'mixed code' model demands increased attention to issues of intellectual property integrity, security and governance, and has created an exciting opportunity to help our customers ensure that their software assets are visible, traceable and manageable."

Picking Fights

The "Picky VC" is at it again ...

There is no Web 2.0 except in the minds of marketing folks who can think of no other way to differentiate their new product from the one that failed in the same space in 2001. That goes for all you VCs too. Let's stop justifying investments on some mythical macro trend in favor of Web 2.0. We need to justify investments based on market opportunity and defensible technologies. Maybe the honest VC tagline should be "Web 2.0 - because my partners won't let me invest in traditional software anymore."

Thinking Good Thoughts about VitalStream

An excerpt from a report released today by ThinkEquity Partners ...

With the macro shift in advertising dollars moving from TV to the newest content distribution channel, the Internet, we believe that [VitalStream's] recently announced EonStreams acquisition positions VSHI well to capitalize on this potential long-term, multi-billion-dollar opportunity. Moreover, EonStreams provides VSHI an up-sell opportunity to its installed base to offer content creators a monetization solution (more importantly, in a highly targeted and dynamic way) rather than just a cost center via CDN services. In our view, VSHI's unique CDN product offering should translate into incremental and higher-margin revenue opportunities as well as higher switching costs and lower churn rates among customers. Shares of VSHI currently trade at approximately 4.6x EV/'07 revenues. Our $16 price target is based on 7.7x our 2007 revenue estimate of $39M, which is an approximate 5 0% discount to AKAM's current valuation.