Betting Against the Cloud: Why Peer-to-Peer is the Future of Video Production

What if the cloud isn't the answer?

That's the bold bet Michael Cioni is making. With over 25 years in the film and television industry — and credits on blockbusters like Avatar, Gone Girl, and Pirates of the Caribbean — Michael has spent his career being the person willing to take the punches to usher in technology that Hollywood wasn't ready for. Now he's doing it again.

In this episode of Invst Guru, Michael breaks down why he walked away from a career at Adobe to found Strada, a peer-to-peer file sharing platform built specifically for video professionals. The problem is deceptively simple: camera files are getting bigger, internet speeds aren't keeping up, and cloud storage costs are spiraling out of control. Strada's solution? Skip the cloud entirely — and let collaborators access your files directly from your local hard drive, anywhere in the world, in real time.

We get into the origin story, the pivots, the patents, and the philosophy behind building a company completely in public. Michael also shares why the next wave of AI analytics won't live in the cloud — and why that changes everything about the cost of creative technology.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why the cloud works great for Netflix and Instagram — but fails video professionals
• How Strada works like "Napster for professional video" with 25 years of security built in
• Why right-clicking a folder on your desktop could replace Dropbox entirely
• The "build in public" approach and how user feedback is shaping Strada's 18-month roadmap
• Why data privacy and cloud distrust are opening a massive new market
• What's coming in 2027 — AI analytics that run on your own hardware, nearly for free

Whether you're a filmmaker, content creator, post-production editor, or an investor looking at where the media tech industry is heading, this conversation will change the way you think about how creative files move around the world.

🌐 Learn more: strada.tech 📺 Watch Strada build in public: Search "Strada Tech" on YouTube 💼 Invest in Strada: wefunder.com/strada

Invst Guru is the podcast for investors and entrepreneurs who want to go beyond the pitch deck and get inside the minds of the founders building tomorrow's companies.

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