Learn how to construct a profitable profession in streaming

In 2025, Dmitry Orekhov, the CEO and associate of Platform24, was named Telecommunications Govt of the 12 months on the Stevie Worldwide Enterprise Awards, one of many world’s premier enterprise honors. The respect capped off years of innovation, growth, and daring strategic choices that turned a nascent TV aggregator into one of many streaming powerhouses.

Constructing Success from Scratch — Twice

On the planet of know-how entrepreneurship, the chances of success are notoriously slim — fewer than 10 % of startups attain sustainable scale. Dmitry Orekhov managed to defy these odds not as soon as, however on quite a few events. Over the course of his profession, he constructed corporations from the bottom up into internationally acknowledged leaders.

The primary was Dune HD, which beneath his management advanced from a small startup importing media gamers right into a revered international model of high-end digital gadgets. Orekhov joined the corporate in 2007, initially to handle gross sales, however rapidly reshaped its technique. As a substitute of counting on imports, he pushed the event of authentic merchandise and secured distribution partnerships with main nationwide retailer chains. Inside just some years, Dune HD captured roughly a 3rd of the Russian media participant market and constructed a strong worldwide presence. The corporate’s gadgets had been repeatedly acknowledged as Product of the 12 months within the Audio and Video class and, in 2013, obtained the distinguished Massive Digit Award.

The second is Platform24, a white-label streaming resolution that has reshaped the media panorama throughout the CIS area. What started as a daring experiment in constructing a greater TV expertise rapidly advanced into one of the crucial superior platforms available in the market, powering tasks for telecom operators, nationwide streaming companies, and fintech ecosystems. Below his management, Platform24 and Orekhov have earned extensive trade recognition, receiving a number of prestigious awards for innovation and management, together with the worldwide Gold Stevie Worldwide Enterprise Award.

Each ventures illustrate a sample that defines Orekhov’s profession: the flexibility to start out from scratch, innovate in aggressive markets, and scale companies to worldwide prominence. In each circumstances, success was pushed by strategic imaginative and prescient, relentless execution, and a deal with constructing merchandise that rework whole industries.

Invaluable instrument

In 2016, he was invited to guide 24TV. In the present day it stands as one of many main aggregators of TV channels and on-line cinemas in its native market, however on the time it was little greater than a prototype. With solely three months earlier than the foremost telecom convention, Orekhov and his newly assembled group launched a completely practical service that included distinctive options such because the CIS area’s first catalogued archive of TV applications and a proprietary low-latency streaming protocol. The product was instantly properly obtained and have become a beneficial instrument for unbiased web suppliers competing towards nationwide giants like Rostelecom and Domru.

Below Orekhov’s management, 24TV grew quickly. It secured partnerships with greater than 500 telecom operators and TV producers, together with Xiaomi and Haier. The corporate additionally expanded into content material aggregation, signing offers with main OTT platforms comparable to ivi, Amediateka, Begin, and Megogo. Considered one of its most modern choices was a single subscription mannequin that mixed reside TV and streaming companies inside one software, dramatically bettering the person expertise. The corporate captured almost 40% of the B2B2C market, and established itself as one of many market leaders.

To drive the following stage of development, Orekhov launched Platform24, a white-label OTT resolution that enables telecom operators and media corporations to create absolutely branded streaming companies. The platform rapidly gained traction, powering tasks for main regional operators comparable to Ufanet and Zelenaya Tochka, every serving round 1 million subscribers, in addition to for one of many largest nationwide on-line cinemas, START, which leveraged Platform24’s know-how to combine reside TV performance seamlessly into its purposes.

Due to Orekhov’s strategic imaginative and prescient and deal with innovation, Platform24 grew to become the most important white-label resolution in its area of interest and obtained a collection of prestigious awards, together with the TTS.Telecom Award as “OTT Platform of the 12 months” in 2023 and the Golden Ether Award from the Worldwide Academy of Communications in 2024 as “Finest OTT/VOD Platform.”

Worldwide wins

From 2022 onwards, Orekhov turned his focus to worldwide growth. To implement this technique, he based a brand new firm in Uzbekistan beneath the Platform24 model, which was established as an unbiased and actively creating enterprise. The corporate grew to become a resident of Uzbekistan’s IT Park. Inside two years, the corporate secured partnerships with Beeline Uzbekistan, one of many nation’s largest cellular operators, in addition to with the main fintech super-app Click on, which serves over 16 million customers. On the premise of the Platform24 resolution, two new on-line cinemas had been launched for the Uzbek market — an operator-branded service for Beeline Uzbekistan and Click on TV, a streaming service built-in into the Click on ecosystem.

In Kazakhstan, Platform24 partnered with Alma+, the nation’s second-largest telecom operator, to develop Alma TV Web Tv. The operator migrated from its earlier system to Platform24’s streaming infrastructure and has since been creating customized options on prime of it. In the present day, Alma+ has develop into one of many largest on-line cinemas within the nation, providing not solely a large TV channel package deal but in addition built-in entry to 9 on-line cinemas. The corporate additional expanded its footprint in Kazakhstan by way of a serious new challenge with Freedom Media, backed by vital funding, and by successful a aggressive tender with Beeline Kazakhstan, one of many nation’s main cellular operators.

Past Kazakhstan, native streaming companies comparable to Birge.television and Q-Movie are additionally constructed on Dmitry’s product. Platform24 has prolonged its attain into Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, with Orekhov noting that Azerbaijan is especially promising as a result of absence of enormous home streaming companies or operator-backed OTT platforms.

Orekhov’s entry into the Central Asian market grew to become a turning level for the area’s media trade. His tasks acted as a catalyst for competitors and transformation, serving to native operators evolve from legacy IPTV options into fashionable streaming companies. Consequently, your entire ecosystem benefited: operators gained entry to world-class merchandise, finish customers loved a considerably improved viewing expertise, and Orekhov’s enterprise achieved exponential year-over-year income development.

Inside just some years, his worldwide growth reached 9 international locations and greater than 30 large-scale tasks, together with partnerships with a number of the largest nationwide gamers. These enterprise accomplishments earned Orekhov not solely international recognition for his firm, but in addition the distinguished Gold Stevie Worldwide Enterprise Award, the place he was personally honored as Telecommunications Govt of the 12 months.

The inspiration of this achievement lies in Orekhov’s strategic imaginative and prescient, enterprise acumen, and steady deal with innovation. In the present day, Platform24 is actively embedding AI into each its know-how and enterprise processes to make sure that its companions can proceed to compete efficiently with the world’s main streaming platforms. As Orekhov places it: “All through my profession, I’ve taken on bold challenges, constructed modern merchandise, and expanded into new markets. My objective is to create merchandise that foster competitors and drive the event of the trade, giving native companions the instruments they should develop efficiently regardless of the globalization of streaming.”