The NY Times this morning is saying Mike Volpi, who used to sell Cisco network plumbing to the likes of Comcast, Time Warner and the other Big Mother cable carriers, will be named CEO of Joost today. This has a bittersweet twist to it if you ask me.
Joost, brought to you by some of the same folk who gave you Skype, is the most disruptive thing to cable carriers to yet come along. Not yet live, Joost will let you get your TV programs from the Internet for free instead of from incumbent providers for $50 a month or more.
It is fitting that to fight the war the startup will have to fight, one likely to involve litigation and legislation, that Joost selected someone who has not only slept with the enemy, he has been one the enemy's brightest lights. Good luck, Mike.
