What & why?
Six3 is a next-generation mobile-centric, video communication service. Our goal is to help people be together, even when they’re apart.
We’re frustrated by the current video communication services. We love Skype calls, but they’re a hassle to organise and they rarely work well on mobile. We’ve all emailed videos, but the recipients have to download huge files, and they have to switch between email and video player, and video recorder applications to reply. Finally, there’s YouTube, a great way to share video, but only if you want the entire world to see it.
So we decided to design the easiest way possible to privately create, send view and reply to video messages. For now, the service works on iPhones, Macs & PCs. But eventually, Six3 will work on all smartphones, internet-connected TVs and even games consoles.
Who?
Leigh Middleton, CEO
Leigh graduated as a graphic designer in 2005. From there he went on to work for marketing agencies Iris Digital and Frukt Communications, designing print and interactive marketing products for brands including Coca Cola, Universal Music, Nokia and T-Mobile. He went on to work for Ogilvy One before being dispatched to Copenhagen in 2010 as part of tight-knit team charged with rebranding Carlsberg beer for the first time since 1904. On his return to the UK, he rejoined OgilvyOne as an Art Director, helping to design cross channel marketing UX and material for Amex, BT, BA, Bupa and other household names. Following the birth of Sonny Scott Middleton in 2010, Leigh had dreamed of a better way of sharing Sonny’s news with his extended family, and Six3 is the result. When away from pencils/Mac, Leigh has been heavily involved in the UK music scene, from the early days of pirate radio through to the occasional DJ set today.
Why Six3? “My family are spread across the globe and after the birth of my son, I found it increasingly difficult to keep everyone up to date, working in London and having a family leaves little time for anything else. Six3 allows anyone in family to see how Sonny is doing and in their own time. Great for us and great for them.”
Simon Frost, CTO
Soon after graduating from UMIST in Computer Science & French, Simon was cherry-picked by Citigroup, working in New York and then found himself running a team of 25, delivering communication services for the company’s workforce. After craving more creative projects, Simon worked with seminal digital agencies Satama and Razorfish. Keen to understand the burgeoning mobile market, Simon worked for consultancy XY, and then developed Lastminute.com’s mobile/multi-channel offering. After a number of freelance engagements, Simon spent 2 1/2 years as technical architect of the BBC iPlayer – Europe’s largest online television service. The platform he developed now serves 130 million TV and radio shows per month. Following a short project at ITV, Simon joined as CTO of Six3. Simon is a self-confessed food nut, experimental chef, and lover of electronic music.
Why Six3? “Ever since I sent my first email to a friend in another country on a Sun Sparc Workstation, I was fascinated by the power of what happens when we connect devices to a network, and the potential of how it can support us as our lives get ever more busy and distributed around the world. Convenience has always been a by-product of the work I’ve done, and I want to make it easy for people to share moments with the ones they love.”
As featured in:
