Before Twitch became the dominant force in live streaming, it started as a much broader experiment. In 2007, Justin Kan and his team launched Justin.tv, a platform that allowed anyone to broadcast their life live online.
The concept stemmed from Kan’s decision to livestream his entire life 24/7, using a webcam strapped to his head—a bold idea dubbed “lifecasting.”
What began as a quirky idea soon attracted attention, and the team saw potential for a platform that let anyone livestream anything. This vision led to the foundation of Justin.tv, co-founded by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt.
Live video on the internet was still in its infancy in the late 2000s.
YouTube had only recently gained popularity for on-demand videos, but real-time broadcasting was largely unexplored. Justin.tv offered categories like sports, news, and gaming, but one category began to surge far ahead of the rest—gaming.
