Peter Lewis is the founder and CEO of Worldcast Live, a leading media streaming platform that connects you to your audience via their patented software, UniMerse.
Worldcast Live offers clients live multi-party streaming solutions to engage with customers, prospects, employees, partners and more, anywhere in the world. Worldcast Live creates targeted VIP experiences for users and brands, revenue-generating opportunities, one and two-way streaming, augmented reality and points rewards, and cashless food ordering services in an ecosystem that allows all entities to interact on one platform.
FMM: You have spent 20+ years in the financial and software industries. Tell us about your background.
After completing my Master’s in computer science, there was the challenge of finding
my first job. In my search, I was hired by a small Software company in midtown
Manhattan to help develop a custom software for the dental industry. As with any
project, I immersed myself in the dental sector to produce the best features assigned to
me. The team was small, so I had to understand all facets of the software development
cycle, but it was fun and challenging at the same time. Being able to handle all areas
molded me into the software engineer I needed to be, so after a short time, I moved on
to the life insurance sector, where I spent a year building custom software for a life
insurance carrier. While working for the life insurance carrier, I wanted to challenge
myself more, so I set my goals on Wall Street. I had two separate interviews before I
landed the second opportunity to work at Morgan Stanley in the mutual funds
department doing reconciliations. During my eight years at Morgan Stanley, I increased
my leadership and problem-solving skills while gaining a general understanding of how
successful organizations work and operate.
FMM: What led you to launch Worldcast Live?
While working at Morgan Stanley, I was approached by my childhood friend to build a
radio station that allowed DJs to go live from anywhere in the world and where artists
could upload indie music into a playlist that would be scheduled on specific time slots. I
saw this as a great challenge and devoted all my spare time to building what was then
called the WCR scheduler. At peak, we had over 40 DJs on Worldcast Radio scheduled
in the system, and it ran on its own with no interaction by switching DJs live when they
requested access, switching them off after their time slot, and playing the recorded
mixes or Indie artist tracks. We saw a significant market for the custom software and
knew it could do more, so we started exploring more features. We wanted to go after
the remote DJ market and allow DJs to play in nightclubs in full HD from the comfort of
their homes. In 2009, club owners did not understand or believe it would work, so we
received a lot of resistance. The software was refined and worked flawlessly with
booking options, multi-venue support, and many more features. We knew it was a full- fledged tech company, so we had to make it one, so that is how Worldcast Live was
formed. As the software expanded, we moved into doing concerts, festivals, carnivals,
MMA events and even WWE. The platform was an all-in-one solution that allowed that
content creator to go live and interact with fans with options for PPV and not have to
worry about tech since we took care of everything.
FMM: Who is it for?
The platform is designed for content creators who do not want to focus on tech but still
have live interaction with the fans and consumers before the live event, during and after
the live event using fan engagement tools and interactive streaming all from the client’s
website. Those clients included festivals, concerts, seminars, sporting events and DJ
gigs.
FMM: Tell us about the platform.
The platform focuses on the fans, so every feature is designed for the fan or consumer
experience, including the PPV options, live chat, augmented reality rewards and loyalty
points. The power of the platform is that all the features are centered around fan
engagement.
FMM: Is it user friendly?
The platform has to be user-friendly because we are dealing with users all over the
world. We also have the capability for users to access live events on any device and
added a feature that allows users to make payments from the major credit cards and
Paypal. The platform has a seamless process that enables event planners to embed the
platform directly into their website with easy access to the interface and admin section,
allowing the event planner to focus on amplifying the guest experience.
FMM: What does the Worldcast Education Platform offer to clients?
The Worldcast education platform offers clients a seamless content management
platform and live streaming module that allows any education entity to go entirely virtual.
Our strong belief is that education should not have borders and can be accessed from
anywhere in the world, so we set out to build a complete live interactive platform that connects students, teachers, and administrative staff in an all-in-one solution. The main
key component is always live and interactive with low latency, so the personal touch is
not lost. The platform supports on-demand content but shines best in live two-way
streaming with payment modules built into every feature
FMM: Share your vision for Worldcast Live in 2022.
Going into 2022, the Worldcast Live team aims to take on two sectors: the live
entertainment sector and the education sector. The platform is well-positioned because
it was built from the core
