In Part 1, we explored Omnilive’s journey, challenges, and insights on product-market fit. Now, in Part 2, Cyril Zajac, CEO of Omnilive, shares his perspective on industry trends, partnerships, customer success, and the future of interactive media. From AI-driven innovation to new business strategies, this conversation continues to unpack what’s next in the evolving world of digital experiences.
🛠️ Product & Market Fit
✅ How did you refine your product-market fit, and how long did it take?
Refining our product-market fit at Omnilive is a constant effort of listening to users, market research and iterations. I like pilot projects. It’s a great way of gathering feedback to understand what features matter most. Big projects are an addition of many small successes. By staying adaptable, we continuously improved our platform, met our users’ needs and exceeded their expectations.
✅What’s your approach to collecting and acting on customer feedback?
Collecting and acting on customer feedback is essential for us. We start by defining the key success factors for and with our customers – Whatever they may be, ease of integration, cost vs ROI, audience engagement etc… and the next steps of our collaboration. We measure by any means necessary, upon validation, it usually automatically triggers phase two.
✅ How do you differentiate your product in a competitive market?
Differentiating Omnilive in a competitive market comes down to our unique Multiview value proposition. What we call the “Why Omnilive ?” Our technology allows viewers to choose their own perspective, to take the director’s seat if you will. We had the chance to work early on with the MIT on how Multiview mimic for distance learning, the cognitive experience students have in the classroom and how it creates more accessibility for DYS students, homogenic concentration level and better information retention compared to regular video or visio conference where you force everybody to watch passively the same content at the same time. These finding translate to any market, especially sports live streaming. Multiview will create between 30 and 90% more engagement because it’s an active experience where the motor functions of your brain are solicited.
✅So Why Omnilive? Once you understand that active is better than passive and that your audience demands it, it will radically change the way you look at telling your story, advertising, conversation with your fans and the value you can create compare to good old TV editorial. Yes- we provide all the interactions data.
✅ Have you had to pivot, and if so, what led to that decision?
Yes, we’ve had to pivot. Initially, we thought our primary market would be entertainment and broadcasters (sports and live music), but meeting with the MIT, made us shift to education. Today the entertainment market especially sport in the US is seeing tremendous changes and we are seeing people who discarded us back then coming back. Sometimes you must wait for the right time. That time is now.
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✅ How do you balance building features customers want with maintaining a clear product vision?
Not easy. At all. I said we like pilot projects. We also like co-innovation. We are very transparent on our roadmap with selected clients. Pilot Programs and co-innovation are a step that goes beyond the simple delivery of a proof-of-concept or a new service. It aims at nothing less than pushing the limits of our co-market with a true co-constructed new features. It gives our clients the ability to ask for “new stuff” and keep a high differentiation from their competition and for us to advance in our roadmap knowing we are in synch with the market.
💰 Funding & Revenue Model
✅ What’s been your biggest lesson in raising capital?
An investor is your worst adversary before becoming your best friend. Pay close attention to what they show and how they show it. It often speaks volumes. So far, I consider myself lucky. I have great investors.
✅How did you decide on your business model and pricing strategy?
Pricing is elastic. I wanted our pricing to reflect the real value Omnilive brings to clients, so we experimented with everything from flat fees to usage-based models. Ultimately, we settled on a scalable approach that grows with each client’s needs. It keeps things fair, encourages long-term partnerships, and ensures everyone is equally invested in creating the best livestream experience possible.
✅How do you manage investor expectations while maintaining control over the company?
I believe it’s all about transparency and trust. A great investor stays in the loop about both our successes and challenges. At the same time, I maintain a clear vision for Omnilive, ensuring that while investors are valued partners, the final decision-making remains firmly with the core leadership.
✅ What’s your philosophy on profitability vs. growth?
Sky is the limit
✅Have you explored alternative funding sources, such as grants or crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding no, but it is a solution I am looking at for a new B2C product we want to launch. France is also great for all the grants and funding leverage you can get. Good or bad, we don’t rely on it as much as we should.
🚀 Leadership & Culture
✅What leadership lessons have you learned through running a startup?
An entrepreneur friend of mine use to say and it stuck with me: “As an entrepreneur, you are the boss of no one. Your clients are your boss. Your employees are your boss. IRS is your boss… Running a startup is 99% solving other people problems that they don’t or can’t solve by themselves.
✅How do you handle stress and decision-making under pressure?
I breath. In Ancient Greek, the word “Crisis” means “the time when a difficult or important decision must be made.” I try to keep that in mind. I try to remember that good or bad, I am always where I need to be and that moving forward will get you quicker to a resolution and that it’s always a lesson of personal growth. Conversely, apnea is the surest route to asphyxiation.
✅How do you foster a strong company culture, especially in a remote or hybrid environment?
Building a strong company culture, especially in a remote or hybrid setting, comes down to trust, communication, and mostly from shared purpose. I make sure everyone feels connected to not only our mission but to MY vision. Steve Jobs embodied Apple. I am not an egomaniac, but it’s important that the team understands how their expertise contributes to the bigger picture. It’s about providing flexibility – empowering people while ensuring they feel directed and supported. Culture is built on little things, done consistently, together, that make the difference.
✅What’s the best advice you’ve received as a founder?
The best advice I’ve received is: to stay obsessed with the problem, not the solution. The Why Omnilive? Technologies evolve, markets shift, and strategies change, but if you stay laser-focused on solving a real pain point, you’ll always find a way forward. It’s a mindset that keeps you adaptable and resilient, no matter what challenges come your way.
✅ How do you maintain work-life balance, or is that even possible in the startup world?
Work-life balance in the startup world is tricky, and certainly not for everyone. To say otherwise would be an outright lie. I have a very light lifestyle, and I don’t have many necessities. But above all, I have an extraordinary wife. She keeps me grounded. She always has.
🚀 Challenges & Future Outlook
✅ What’s been your biggest failure, and what did you learn from it?
Not a failure, but a miss maybe. We meet with the MIT too early. The product was not quite finished. We too quickly signed a distribution agreement with a technology partner in the USA, which turned out to be a mistake and we churned the client. We were just not ready.
As I said: you have to trust that you are always in the place where you need to be. We took it in and decided to forget about the US, while concentrating to replicating the MIT use case in France. We did it with success. Multiple time and we are now coming back with a vengeance.
✅ What regulatory or industry challenges have impacted your business?
There are always gatekeepers. It’s part of the game. In the education market, the main challenge is to overcome teachers’ fear of being disintermediated by technology. Most understand that a student hungry to learn will use any means to quench his thirst for knowledge and that the classroom is becoming less and less the privileged space to do so in favor of the digital space.
In sports, one of the biggest industry challenges has been navigating the evolving landscape of digital rights. Here too, things are moving quickly. Audiences shifted to digital, it is now a fact. Brands, sponsors, clubs, leagues and federations are looking more and more to activate OTT and DTC strategies to get away from traditional “sell-my-rights” business model and to generate visibility and revenues, fans demand new interactions and more conversation.
This is the perfect timing for a tech like ours. Tons of problems to solve. Our strategy is always to enable and support our clients, never to disrupt them.
✅ How do you stay ahead of technological trends and disruptions?
Be the 1st mover. There is no other way to stay ahead. Same for our clients. In a world in forever evolution, you have to be the first to move to stay ahead of the competition.
✅ What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs in the tech space?
Focus on solving a real problem, not just building cool technology. Too many startups fall in love with their solution without validating if there’s real demand.
Also, resilience is everything— in the words of Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” So: Refuse to quit.
✅ Where do you see your company in five years, and what steps are you taking to get there?
I am going to say if, but the train already left the platform. So if we can fundraise our next round, we could execute to become the leader and standard fan engagement and monetization. Any investors in the room?
Stay ahead of the curve—what do you think about multiview, AI’s role in interactive media?
Let’s discuss Shoptalk or Brand Innovators this week in Las Vegas!
#advertising #ai #livestreaming #digitalinnovation #futureofmedi
