VHX

VHX (2010-2016) - a platform for selling movies and TV shows directly to fans.

For the earlier social video sharing website, check out VHX Classic (community.vhx.tv).

I was the co-founder and CEO of VHX. We built tools that let filmmakers, comedians, and media companies sell video content directly to their audiences - no middleman, own your customer relationships, keep most of the money.

We had the privilege of working with thousands of small businesses, as well as well-known artists like Dave Grohl, Kevin Hart, This American Life, Grace Helbig, Aziz Ansari, and many more.

The VHX player from the 2012 video dashboard, playing a Sesame Street clip from YouTube. Cropped to leave out friends' shares.

Promo art for Aziz Ansari's Dangerously Delicious, sold with VHX in 2012.

Banner for Indie Game: The Movie by Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, 2012, featuring characters from Fez (Polytron) and Super Meat Boy (Team Meat).

The company was backed by investors including Union Square Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Chris Sacca, and Alexis Ohanian.

Timeline

• 2010: Casey and I start VHX after winning the Emmy for Star Wars Uncut
• April 2011: VHX Classic private beta, our first version: a community site for sharing web videos, as a video dashboard for the whole internet
• March 2012: Aziz Ansari’s Dangerously Delicious goes on sale for $5, DRM-free, on azizansari.com. It’s our first sale and the start of VHX 2.0, direct sales for creators (VHX for Artists)
• June 2012: our second big VHX 2.0 launch: Indie Game: The Movie premieres worldwide from its own site for $9.99, the same day as iTunes and Steam
• June 2012: $1.25 million from Lerer Ventures and angels
• August 2012: vhx.tv becomes the selling platform, and the original site moves to community.vhx.tv
• September 2012: my XOXO talk on self-distribution, written up in the New York Times
• August 2013: $3.2 million Series A led by USV
• March 2014: public launch at SXSW, open to anyone selling video
• January 2015: $5 million led by Comcast Ventures
• January 2016: apps for phones, tablets and TVs
• May 2016: acquired by Vimeo, after raising $10.25 million in total. All 22 of us joined Vimeo

Acquisition

In 2016 we were acquired by Vimeo. The product is now known as Vimeo OTT. I stayed at Vimeo into 2017, working on originals and subscription video, then left to become Kickstarter’s first chief product officer.

Videos

Animation & art direction by Erica Gorochow:

Animations by Kornhaber Brown with sound design by Mike Rugnetta and Bryan Pugh:

Talks

XOXO Festival (2012):

Links

• Vimeo OTT (the product today)
• Wikipedia: VHX
• The Verge: Vimeo acquires VHX

Team

• Casey Pugh, co-founder
• Chad Pugh, founding designer

See also: VHX Classic, Star Wars Uncut