Officially Official: YouTube chief Chad Hurley signs on with USF1
Brilliant things can happen when Silicon Valley gets into the car business. One look at Tesla is all the evidence we need. But now one of the tech corridor's biggest names and leading talents has stepped into the motor racing arena.Following weeks of speculation, the upstart US F1 team has announced the participation of one Chad Hurley. Starting out at eBay's successful PayPal service, Hurley and a few colleagues left to start YouTube, the video sharing site that they then sold to Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Hurley stayed on to guide the company after the acquisition and has now signed on to the first American grand prix team in some four decades to enter Formula One.
Hurley's responsibilities with the team will center on plotting its corporate and media strategy. However, there's been no official mention of whether YouTube – which has had its share of confrontations with Formula One Management – will itself be sponsoring the team directly.
[Source: Autosport | Image: Andreas Rentz/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ichime 8:15AM (8/21/2009)
I like the way this guy thinks.
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Mike 8:32AM (8/21/2009)
I wonder if he's bringing his own money or if it's corporate dollars from Google/YouTube? This guy defiantly brings some vision on media strategy. I hope he brings the fans a little closer to the workings of the team.
Good luck to them.
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Bobs 9:19AM (8/21/2009)
That's awesome ... they hired someone with braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainz
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Dude 12:15PM (8/21/2009)
You mean they brought someone with
monnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
Adam Bruce 2:23PM (8/21/2009)
Hmmm, copy StreetFire(launched 2004) video sharing screen per screen (YouTube launched Q2 2005), While your competitors are respecting copyright holders (Revver, vSocial, Vidiac, StreetFire) you flagrantly disregard the spirit of the DMCA by exploiting a loop-hole and build a massive audience that you then sell to Google for $1.6B.
I'm not sure how much "braaaaaainnnnz" that takes, but it sure requires a lack of character.
the4thheat 6:46PM (8/21/2009)
You could share video well before any of those sites but Youtube made it easy and accessible and the community wasn't just about cars. Most of the basic ideas for almost everything has been around forever, but making it work is a different story.
Kinda like how Google wasn't even close to the first search engine but I don't see you using Altavista.
audi_arena 9:34AM (8/21/2009)
so then we should start seeing more F1 televised
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HK 1:26PM (8/21/2009)
they televise it already..... very poorly
The commentators have no idea of what they're saying
It's like watching a baseball game. They start throwing facts about the driver >_<
If you've seen itv or BBC's broadcast before and then watch fox sports, you'll rather want to sharpen a pencil and shove it up your ears. Trust me on this
Oh, did I mention they have commercial breaks while the race is running?
They have no idea why companies sponsor the teams.
Vtecgreen 12:04PM (8/21/2009)
"However, there's been no official mention of whether YouTube – which has had its share of confrontations with Formula One Management – will itself be sponsoring the team directly."
Haha - isn't that the truth - any F1 coverage on Youtube is removed within a day or so of the race. Hopefully this will change that. Either way, I'd love to see some more youtube coverage of the car being developed (naturally not too much - and not until they are already racing during the season)
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HK 1:37PM (8/21/2009)
The idea of USF1 is preposterous.
It's based on North Carolina, home of the "speed enforcing angry neighbors with paintballs"
I wonder who will drive the cars. All American drivers are going to crash at the first corner in the Australian GP given that it is a right hander :)
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