Avner Ronen, CEO, Boxee at Brite 09

Image via CrunchBase

This post comes live from the BRITE conference on Branding, Innovation, and Technology at Columbia University in New York City.

Q: How did it come out, and who's funding it?

AR: As consumers we were frustrated with the experience. Started it in early 2007. A lot of companies playing in the space had existing interests to protect, so they wanted to put the user first. Raised Series A $4 million from Union Sq Ventures, Spark Capital.

Q: I see you&39;re using clip from CNN.com. Are you cutting out pre-roll?

AR: We never cut out anything from video. We take the player as is. The monetization remains the same. For them, it&39;s another view. We don&39;t make any money on it right now. The content owners make the money.

Q: Can you show data on the business model for Boxee?

AR: Boxee doesn&39;t generate any revenue right now. Goal: reach 1 million users by end of year, improve product. Can support ad model, transaction model, subscription model. Will seek rev share from content partners.

Q: When do you see a pullback for social media overkill (referring to oversharing on Twitter)?

AR: I think Twitter and Facebook are what you make of them — or what your friends make of them.