18th October 2023, Cardiff, Wales, UK

Andy Taylor (CEO of Accordion Innovation Ltd) writes...

In the next few weeks, I'll be part of an Innovate UK in-market visit to India. Visiting the cities of Mumbai and Hyderabad, I'm aiming to lay the foundations for partnerships, collaborations and commercial growth for both Accordion and flipformat in one of the most exciting and dynamic media markets in the world.

Innovate UK have chosen a group of small innovative companies from all around the UK to be part of this trip. I'm proud to be flying the flag for Wales and for solopreneurs too.

It's hit me recently to be more open and celebratory about the fact that I run two companies - Accordion Innovation Ltd and Bwlb Ltd - on my own. There is no big VC funding here and no long staff list. It's just me, working away trying to build successful companies that are creative, make good stuff and try to be a positive voice.

I can't do everything (my coding has improved, but not enough and my video editing is OK but not top level) so I employ freelance developers and video editors, but all the other tasks in both businesses are done by me.

Back in the summer, I remember taking an hour or two out of a family holiday to write my application for this India trip.

In the past, when working for big companies, I would really have resented having to interrupt my personal time with a work task... but it feels totally different running my own companies.

My time is totally flexible, my work-life balance is vastly improved, and it is incredibly rewarding to be able to build companies yourself in the ways you think it should be done. It also means that if you meet me and want a decision on an opportunity, you can get it. Doing business with me is quick, straight-forward, honest and positive. That's my aim.

I can't wait to get to India, meet a load of good people and see what opportunities are there.

​Monday 21st November 2022, Cardiff, Wales, UK

Welsh tech startup Accordion Innovation Ltd has made a leap forward in audience convenience technology with the creation of Accordion Video.

Accordion Video is an evolution of the original audio Accordion technology developed to solve the problem of "too many podcasts, not enough time". It lets users control the duration of visual media to make it fit their available viewing time without losing the structure, tone or feel of the original.

This means content like online lectures (Education), keynote speeches (Conferences), all-staff updates (Corporate Internal Comms) and video podcasts (exploding as both Spotify and YouTube compete to own the space) can now be presented to the users with never-before-seen levels of control and convenience.

At the moment, viewers with less time than the original content length need to either speed the video up (unnatural and un-engaging), pick snippets or highlights (loss of context) stop before the end (unsatisfying and less likely to return) or not watch the content at all (loss of revenue).

With Accordion, content can fit the users time perfectly. The tech works by dynamically re-versioning the original so that the structure remains but the level of detail becomes controllable, using a slider bar beneath the video.

Shortest versions (usually around a third or a quarter of original duration) still have a beginning, middle and end... plus all the best / essential parts (as chosen either by the content producer, Accordion itself via automation or an adjustable mix of both). Further up the slider bar, the versions get longer (moving toward the original duration) and the detail gets added back in.

The result is a barely-believable seamless experience that leaves viewers feeling as if they have watched the original content in full... just in the perfect amount of time to suit them. As one user tester put it:

"I don't know how this is possible, but I want it on all of my podcasts from now on, please."

Accordion Video is currently being trialled in higher education in the UK and in the multinational corporate context as a way to increase staff engagement with internal comms messaging.

CEO of Accordion Innovation Ltd, Andy Taylor said:

"The possibilities that Accordion Video opens up are virtually endless. Anywhere there is video content and users or audiences under time pressure, Accordion comes into its own. People have decreasing amounts of time. Meanwhile their desire for convenience increases, as do the demands on their time. Accordion can get your company's message / product / content to your ideal consumer in a more efficient way that makes your customer feel valued. With the technology so new, there is an opportunity to create a distinct competitive advantage and increase revenues."

For more information, or to discuss a trial, collaboration or customer relationship, contact Andy Taylor - [email protected]

​Accordion and Accordion Video are protected via the International Patent Process

ENDS

I spent nearly 18 years working in mainstream media. A long time at BBC Radio 1, then a shorter time at Capital / Global / Communicorp. Then family called. Next entrepreneurship knocked at the door.

I founded Bwlb with 3 clear values in mind - to be creative, to make good stuff and to try to be a positive voice. Out of Bwlb came Accordion, and now both Bwlb and Accordion have grown to the point at which it makes sense for them to each be their own individual company.

But creativity is what I keep coming back to - that is what is behind all of this. On Bwlb's website I've got a quote from Thomas Edison: "There's a way to do it better... find it."

That really drives me. 

I truly believe that Accordion is a better way to deliver content, be it a podcast, a webinar, university lecture, internal comms piece, conference keynote... or one of the many potential applications we are only just beginning to discover.

Ask yourself these questions. In the future, will people have more time, or less? Will they want more control and convenience, or less?

Accordion, and the tech innovation behind it, has a massive part to play in the future of content delivery.

Every time a new customer comes on board with Accordion, their use case fires off a whole new batch of ideas of ways we can develop or improve it. I love that. There is so much potential, and so much fun to be had attempting to realise it.

So, yes, creativity, it all comes back to that. Come and get involved.

Andy, August 2022.