In October 2020, Estella Gabriel and I shut down 10 Block, the entertainment technology startup I co-founded with her in 2018 as Second Screen.
We started with an idea about how people watch television and movies: what if discovering something to watch could be as social as talking about it afterward?
Our first product combined mobile streaming, short-form entertainment, and social interaction. We worked with filmmakers, explored new distribution models, and built a platform where viewers could discover, watch, and discuss content together.
Second Screen attracted attention early on, including a cover story and four-page feature in TVBEurope in May 2018. As the streaming landscape changed, so did our product. We evolved into 10 Block, a universal TV and movie discovery app designed to help people find what to watch across streaming services through recommendations from friends.
We secured venture backing from Mogility Capital and others, developed patent-pending technology, and were selected as one of ten finalists in the 2019 SXSW Release It competition. Among many appearances we founders made, I represented the company on a panel at Digital Hollywood.
But attention, investment, and a promising product weren't enough to make the business sustainable. Despite several iterations, we never quite found the product-market fit we needed to keep going.
I'm disappointed that we couldn't take 10 Block further, but proud of what we accomplished.
We took an idea through product development, testing, fundraising, industry partnerships, and a major public launch. We built relationships with filmmakers, distributors, investors, and entertainment industry veterans. And we got to experiment at a time when the television business was changing almost faster than anyone could keep up with it.
I still believe in the original insight: people don't discover entertainment in isolation. What their friends are watching, discussing, and recommending matters, particularly when there are more streaming services and more choices than anyone can reasonably navigate.
As for me, co-founding an entertainment technology startup was an education in just about everything: product development, operations, marketing, investor relations, intellectual property, and the practical business of turning an idea into something people can actually use.
It didn't end the way we'd hoped, but I'm glad we tried.
My contribution to the streaming wars!
