Rewatch: Alleviating Zoom Fatigue - Built by GitHub Alumni

The increasing prevalence of remote work, spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, has resulted in a significant increase in video-conferencing for many professionals. As traditional office settings remain largely unavailable, organizations are actively seeking alternatives to platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts to facilitate effective communication among employees across different time zones and teams.

Rewatch aims to enhance meeting productivity, and potentially reduce their duration. Established by Connor Sears and Scott Goldman, Rewatch develops and organizes dedicated video channels for businesses, allowing employees to review meetings at their convenience.

At its foundation, Rewatch presents a somewhat unexpected approach: the company believes it can alleviate “Zoom fatigue” by providing employees with expanded options for accessing video-conference recordings.

The system functions as follows: Businesses can record meetings conducted through platforms such as Google Hangouts or Zoom, and Rewatch then archives these recordings in a searchable database. Utilizing tags and notes, the videos become more easily discoverable. For instance, a colleague can be tagged in a meeting where they received recognition, or users can quickly locate instances where a project they are involved with was discussed.

These video libraries, which the company characterizes as “mini-YouTube channels,” also incorporate transcriptions of all meetings, effectively transforming live, synchronous meetings into accessible, asynchronous resources and documentation.

“Previously, the only method to expand the reach of a meeting was to simply lengthen it, or schedule additional meetings,” Sears explained.

If Rewatch proves successful, the founders envision a shift in meetings, moving away from displays of numerous muted participants toward more interactive experiences across teams and time zones, enhanced by text and annotations.

Sears initially conceived the idea for Rewatch during his time as an employee at GitHub, a platform for developers. GitHub, operating as a fully distributed organization, established an internal YouTube channel to facilitate collaboration among employees in different time zones. The co-founders are now aiming to adapt and expand upon this successful internal feature, making it available to a broader audience.

To date, the startup has secured a number of clients, including GitHub, although specific customer numbers have not been disclosed. Upon its official launch, the company will implement a subscription-based pricing model, with details yet to be announced by Sears and Goldman.

One of Rewatch’s competitors is Google Drive, which has been comparatively slow to innovate in the area of video content storage and organization. Rewatch differentiates itself by offering more robust search capabilities for video, such as live transcriptions. Other competitors include Berlin-based Acapela, focused on asynchronous meetings, and Storyboard, a podcasting company that provides on-demand audio content publishing tools for stakeholders. Both of these companies have recently attracted significant investment.

While advancements in meeting methodologies are undoubtedly important, Rewatch and similar companies are banking on the assumption that employees will regularly utilize these content repositories and actively engage with them. However, the question remains: how many individuals will actually revisit a missed stand-up meeting while on vacation? The success of this business model hinges on a fundamental change in user behavior.

This challenge does not negate the value of innovation. It simply highlights the need for a substantial shift in consumer habits for this startup, and many others in the space, to thrive. The fact that investors have already committed millions to the venture underscores its potential despite this uncertainty.

Rewatch has successfully garnered support from several investors, securing a $2 million pre-seed funding round led by Semil Shah at Haystack, with participation from Kent Goldman at Upside Partnership. Additional investors include Gumroad CEO Sahil Lavingia, GitHub CTO Jason Warner, and Zendesk SVP Jason Smale.