Why I started Recast - Q&A with Recast Founder and CEO, Andy Meikle

Recast Founder and CEO Andy Meikle explains why he started Recast, and shares some of the challenges he has encountered, along with his ambitions for the company in 2023.

What was the catalyst for launching Recast?

Through my experience as a creative entrepreneur and as a major sports fan myself, I was frustrated at the fragmentation of sports broadcasting and how many subscriptions were needed to just watch sports. I also understood that the monetisation of rights was challenging for many sports and teams, and that developing revenue on existing free-to-consumer content platforms was impossible for most. Digital content was on the rise, the creator economy was growing and there was an opportunity to create something fairer and more transparent.

I started Recast because I want to give fans easier and more affordable access to the sports and entertainment they want to watch. I’m equally passionate about serving the other side of the market – the content creators – with a fairer monetisation model.

Ultimately, I want a system where everyone wins.

How does Recast answer an unmet need?

Publishers (content creators and rights holders) currently generate minimal revenue from major social media platforms and struggle to unlock the full potential of digital revenue in an increasingly fragmented broadcast landscape.

On Recast, publishers receive up to 85% of the revenue generated every time their content is viewed. Our platform is free to use and offers publishers unique functionality for collaborating and sharing earnings with partners through Smart Contracts, easy access to earnings and performance data, and the ability to set their own price-per-view and restrict content by geographical location – all controlled using our own proprietary technology, Recast Publish.

For content consumers, Recast offers a solution to subscription fatigue, enabling fans to directly support their favourite content creators, without having to pay a platform subscription. Our unique microtransaction model makes content accessible for everyone, offering a decentralised solution that gives fans affordable access to the content they want to see.

In the current economic climate, there are few alternatives to the exhausted subscription-driven streaming model. At a time when consumers are looking to cut costs and cords, our flexible, accessible platform puts the power back in their hands with no ongoing financial commitment.

What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?

There are daily challenges when growing a startup, no matter what phase the business is in. We’ve experienced many to date, whether they are product related, personnel related, or not succeeding in areas where we’d anticipated we would. However, that’s all a part of the journey, so when I look back, the biggest challenge that comes to mind was raising the very first round of capital to get Recast going. There were several investors who were offering large pre-seed investments, much larger than what I ended up closing, but the terms were onerous.

The challenge was a personal one; with a young family, it would have been easier to accept the investment to get the business going and start generating a personal income at a time when it was needed. However, we – I say we, as my wife also deserves a lot of credit for this – remained calm in the storm and held out for many months before securing investment from investors that were right for us, on terms that were right for us.

Holding out for that long put a financial strain on us for a prolonged period of time and meant moving back to the UK and staying with family to reduce that strain. Being patient and taking the route we did has made the journey less challenging than it would have been had I accepted initial offers, which would have served short-term benefits but presented issues in the longer term.

What’s in store for 2023?

In 2023 we are going to continue transforming the sports and entertainment media model. We’ve seen other industries reshape and realise greater reach and value for all sides of marketplaces when a more democratised model is introduced.

There is so much potential in the Recast model, and we are currently expanding into other industries and geographies, as more content creators realise the power of our platform to effectively monetise their content.

I have no doubt that we are going to continue to see drastic changes in audience behaviour. Our greatest strength is our platform’s flexibility, we have and will continue to adapt and respond to audience demand, remaining ahead of the curve of a rapidly changing industry as we push forward to innovate and unlock major scale.

If you are interested in setting up a channel on Recast, visit our blog for some top tips on getting started.