Vitalstream

In the year 2000, as the internet was just beginning to grapple with rich media, Philip N. Kaplan founded VitalStream, Inc. to solve a fundamental problem: how to deliver audio and video content reliably at scale. The company entered the nascent field of content delivery networks, or CDNs, building the infrastructure to help businesses stream media to a growing online audience. It was a classic picks-and-shovels play for the dot-com era's explosion in digital content. Based in Irvine, California, VitalStream grew to become one of the world's largest content delivery networks. The company wasn't just moving bits; it was enabling the future of web broadcasting. As its customer base and revenue expanded, the company also grew through strategic acquisitions, such as purchasing EonStreams to integrate ad-insertion technology, positioning itself as a comprehensive solution for content delivery and monetization. By 2006, VitalStream's success had attracted significant attention. In a move to consolidate the market and integrate a robust CDN into its own offerings, Atlanta-based Internap Network Services announced it would acquire VitalStream Holdings, Inc. The deal, a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $217 million, marked a major milestone for the company Kaplan had started just six years prior. The acquisition combined VitalStream's specialized media delivery services with Internap's broader network infrastructure, creating a more formidable player in the internet services landscape.