On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2022. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Adam ↗
In their words
I use the same technique I used in the 90s, and this is the best thing I'd say to any founder: do it for free.
Why don't we switch our market segment and walk away from the influencers, and move to people who create content for a living — broadcasters, producers, distributors. We took a huge gamble, and it kind of paid off.
We're really doing the plumbing of the platforms, and I'm OK with that description.
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
Who is Adam Rumanek?
The founder and CEO of AuxMode, the Toronto digital rights management company he started in 2012. It manages YouTube catalogues for broadcasters, producers and distributors — protecting content from unauthorized uploads and turning platform payout data into financial reporting a rights holder can actually use.
How did AuxMode get its first customers?
Free work in exchange for a revenue share. He told TechTO he would find a company's TV show already uploaded to YouTube by someone else, show it to them on his laptop, then offer to fix it at no cost and take a cut of whatever revenue he recovered.
Why did AuxMode stop working with influencers?
He judged that studios and the music industry would not let streaming become another Napster, so around 2014 and 2015 he moved the company to people who make content for a living. He described it on the TechTO stage in October 2022 as a huge gamble that paid off.