4.30.18
By Peter High, published on Forbes
Halsey Minor was one of the digital media pioneers, having CNET, the first comprehensive consumer-facing technology content publisher, in 1993. The company grew, and, remarkably for the time, grew profitably. He would run the company for eight years, and it would eventually be sold to CBS in 2008 for $1.8 billion.
Halsey would go on to be one of the original investors in Salesforce, and he would be an active advisor to the company in its early days.
He continues to have his hand in a number of companies, including crypto currency company Bitreserve, and Live Planet, an end-to-end virtual reality video system that captures and distributes live and recorded stereoscopic VR and 360 degree video. We discuss all of the above in this interview.
Peter High: Please provide an overview of Bitreserve, and of why you are so excited about crypto currency.
Halsey Minor: Bitreserve was one of the first companies in the crypto space. I realized that bitcoin created a new monetary system, and the problem Bitreserve is looking to solve is getting money from the old monetary system into this new one.
The company was difficult to start because banks would not open bank accounts for companies with “bit” in the name. It was very prejudicial. We bought part of a New Jersey bank and after about two and a half years, we were in the same situation as Coinbase. Coinbase’s success is predicated on their access to US and European banking. Bitreserve is thriving and profitable, but the regulatory aspect was a headache. I thought there were others who were better suited to running the company, so I left and started Live Planet.
High: Could you provide an overview of Live Planet? What are the problems it is trying to solve, and how does this differ than existing solutions?
To read the full interview, please visit Forbes
