Adi Sideman

Adi Sideman is a pioneer in participatory media, an entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience creating apps and companies in the user-generated video space.

Adi founded YouNow in 2011 to provide a live social platform for people to connect, interact, and express themselves. YouNow grew to be a global social network with more than 40 Million users and over 120 million user sessions per month. YouNow was a finalist for TechCrunch’s Fastest Rising Startup of 2015 Awards.

As a developer, Adi produced the first-ever animated ads on AOL and created more than 30 online games for major-studio franchises, including the Matrix Game for the famed Warner Brothers Movie. In 1999, he founded the interactive media technology firm Oddcast, which continues to develop interactive media apps such as “Elf Yourself”. In 2005 Adi co-founded KSolo, the first online karaoke service (acquired by Fox Interactive/MySpace) and, in 2006, Adi co-founded audio ad network TargetSpot, a joint venture with CBS (acquired by Radionomy).

Adi is a member of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences and was named one of 2015’s top 100 most influential and inspiring people in NYC tech by Business Insider. He holds an MPS degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an undergraduate degree from NYU Film School.