Twitter co-founder Biz Stone joins board of audiovisual startup Chroma — Business d’Or

 Chroma, a startup working to create a new kind of audiovisual entertainment exclusively for mobile devices, now has the co-founder of Twitter on its board. The company announced today that Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter and Medium, as well as the founder of Pinterest and an angel investor in his Chroma, will join the board of directors, with a focus on areas such as design, product development, filmmaking and scaling. announced that it will utilize its expertise in Carrying the brand.

A former Google employee, Stone worked on the Blogger team after the acquisition, and in 2006 he co-founded Twitter.

He remained on Twitter for years as the company grew and was embraced by millions of users around the world. In 2011, when Twitter’s active user count reached his 100 million, the entrepreneur left the company to pursue a new venture at Obvious Corporation.

Obvious Corporation is the startup’s incubator and investment firm to which Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and former Twitter manager Jason Goldman also belonged. Most notably, the company has developed a blogging platform, Medium. But in 2013, Stone and others shifted their focus to individual startups. For Stone, this led to the development of Jelly, a Q&A app and search engine, which he later sold to Pinterest.

In 2017, Stone publicly announced that he would be returning to Twitter to lead strategic vision, brand and culture, where he would remain until 2021.

Over the years, he has supported companies such as Square, Pinterest, Slack, Nest, Intercom, Beyond Meat and many others, and currently chairs the nominating and governance committees.

Stone was first drawn to Swedish audiovisual company Chroma by its CEO and founder, Andreas Pihlstrom. Pihlström previously worked as a creative director, design advisor, designer and prototizer at Pinterest, Beats Music and VSCO.

The two hit it off and started making monthly calls after investing in Stone’s Angel.

“It’s important to find people you like to work with and spend time with and exchange ideas with,” Stone said.

The Chroma team had many ideas, but finally arrived at the intersection of audio-visual technologies with their music and sound.

As Stone explains, the idea was to change the nature of music and sound, making it a more interactive and immersive experience. In practice, this involves tactile and dynamic visuals that create sound-driven digital spaces that users can explore and interact with for a variety of purposes.

The debut product to test this concept was announced last year through a partnership with music artist Arca for developing his iOS app called Lux ​​Aeterna. According to the company, the app offers an audiovisual experience that explores the music of Venezuelan producers, DJs, singers and songwriters in a “meditative digital space.” Users fly through virtual worlds and interact with music and sounds as part of their journey.

But this doesn’t show the full potential of the technology. There are many possible use cases. Some of which Chroma is currently investigating. Other ways users can interact with audio and sound will be revealed, such as games and meditation. , relax, compose and more. The company plans to launch its products on his mobile device first, but Stone said the tech could become even more interesting if Apple releases its own VR/AR headset. thinking about.

“If it were more ubiquitous, it would be a great fit for gear in the Metaverse. But you can also watch it on Apple TV. I’d like to bring it there.” Anywhere there is great sound and great image,” he added. “Mobile [first] is easy because everyone has it.” Stockholm-based

Chroma, founded in 2021, raised $5.4 million in seed funding last year) from VC firms Singular and Adjacent, Private investors, including Stone and Pinterest co-founders Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann, from Berlin-based angel syndicate SpotiAngels and others. Chroma previously raised €1.6 million in pre-seed funding.

As a board member, Stone expects to meet with the startup several times a month, in addition to regular board meetings. He says he usually considers himself an advisor when it comes to angel investing. Chroma did.

“[On Chroma] They are full of ideas. It’s a small team and you don’t have to do a lot to get something done, so the challenge was to narrow it down,” Stone said. Right now, the focus is on adding a sensory experience to the sound.

“The big picture is kind of like this ‘Soundplay’ idea. Interactive. It makes the music of nature richer in 3D, but more visual and . You can do something with it,” Stone hinted.

“Biz brings a wealth of experience in technology and design to our table. Together we pave the way for the future of sound by combining forward-thinking thinking that shifts the musical paradigm. says eating “noodles” with a small group of people doing different things for themselves.

So far, the project has been self-funded and has yet to officially launch, so he’s keeping the details secret. However, Stone said he is particularly interested in the burgeoning AI field, especially in using AI as a tool he said he was not particularly interested in other recent technology trends such as Web3 and some aspects of the metaverse.

“[web3] culture doesn’t appeal to me. Something is wrong,” Stone explained. Speaking of the Metaverse, he said, “We don’t want a dystopian future where kids are in their rooms wearing scuba masks all day. I don’t want that to happen. I don’t like it,” he adds.

On Twitter, Stone admitted he wasn’t monitoring the situation as closely as others, but said “it doesn’t look good at the moment,” but said he doesn’t make predictions for the future. It could be a thing, but it doesn’t look like it…it looks chaotic with so many people getting laid off every day there’s something new, something crazy — i.e. Twitter, me.

There was always something going on…this is a whole new level.

Originally published at https://businessdor.com on January 27, 2023.