Wilmaa was a wonder that almost didn’t happen. As Solutionpark celebrated ten years of business, the company was looking for a chance to show its accomplishments and make them widely available. As a result, a decision was made to broadcast the European Football Championship of 2008 via a web browser. To say it was a success would be to undermine how popular it was, since Gabathuler wanted to shut the site down after the stream was over but hundreds of users protested, asking for more. Thus, the 44-year-old entrepreneur started work on a bold business plan. He decided to use advertising as a means of shouldering the broadcasting rights’ price and deliver affordable streaming TV via the Internet.

Coding work was finished on December 23, 2008. Gabathuler let the staff go rest for the Christmas holidays and turned on Wilmaa himself. Several weeks ahead of the previously scheduled January launch. And, later, as Gabathuler was lounging on a Mexican beach with his wife, a phone message surprised him. Wilmaa became a smash hit nearly overnight, spurring a press boom and gaining users by the thousands. Coming home, Gabathuler saw Wilmaa boasting 100,000 registered users. And all of that was achieved even before the date on which the launch was supposed to happen.