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Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

startupschool.org

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Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#21

Post by panabee »

jankoum wrote: post #18
mtgx wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BBM had huge potential as well in the early days. Blackberry practically invented this "SMS-alternative" type of chat application. It was being quickly adopted in emerging markets as a replacement for SMS, which was much more expensive. However, Blackberry screwed that up by keeping BBM Blackberry-only for so long. The BBM should have been available on the iOS and Android stores (and probably on Symbian/Java) since 2…

yes of course - because having a random 8 digit hex pin was so user friendly, easy and intuitive :)

for the cynics who will invariably pile on with "survivorship bias," would you mind sharing what choices you consciously made that were different from other messaging apps?

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#22

Post by jankoum »

a_d wrote: post #20
jankoum wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes of course - because having a random 8 digit hex pin was so user friendly, easy and intuitive :)

What did you do in the very early days to promote the app (apart from Flyertalk)?

heh Flyertalk... awesome forum btw.

until we added messaging nothing I did worked. once we added messaging it took off on its own.

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#24

Post by jankoum »

NavyDish wrote: post #23

Can you please post a reddit-AMA style proof to assure users that it really is you. It is unbelievable that you weren't aware of HN and that the profile was created just a few hours ago. Thanks. :)

i have no idea what is reddit-AMA style proof is... sorry i didn't get around to making HN account before today.

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#25

Post by a_d »

jankoum wrote: post #22
a_d wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you do in the very early days to promote the app (apart from Flyertalk)?

heh Flyertalk... awesome forum btw. until we added messaging nothing I did worked. once we added messaging it took off on its own.

You mentioned in one of your talks about a small loophole in the early days of the App Store where apps were showcased under "new and noteworthy" if one made an update to the app - Q1: is this true?

And Q2: when you say "took off on its own" does it mean folks learned about WhatsApp only from word of mouth with no effort from the WhatsApp team?

Q3: what impact did charging for the app have on the company finances and growth rate?

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#26

Post by jankoum »

panabee wrote: post #21
jankoum wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes of course - because having a random 8 digit hex pin was so user friendly, easy and intuitive :)

for the cynics who will invariably pile on with "survivorship bias," would you mind sharing what choices you consciously made that were different from other messaging apps?

there were a few and i probably won't be able to list all of them, but here are some:

- build for multiple platforms. most of our competitors did iOS and Android only and called it a day.

- keep the app simple. most of our competitors complicated not only the sign up flow but also the in-app experience

- look native. our thinking was that hundreds of millions of people use native apps thousands times a day and if we use native look and feel in our app, it will feel comfortable and intuitive for our users.

- focus on speed, performance and reliability. it is easy to build an app that sends images quickly on 4G but you also have to work efficiently in the EDGE environments.

- localization. we translated into as many languages as we could as quickly as we could.

- support. for the longest time Brian and myself were the only two guys answering customer support emails.

- focus on organic growth as it makes your network stronger

there are probably a bunch of other things we focused early on that escape me at the moment...

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#27

Post by jankoum »

a_d wrote: post #25
jankoum wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

heh Flyertalk... awesome forum btw. until we added messaging nothing I did worked. once we added messaging it took off on its own.

You mentioned in one of your talks about a small loophole in the early days of the App Store where apps were showcased under "new and noteworthy" if one made an update to the app - Q1: is this true? And Q2: when you say "took off on its own" does it mean folks learned about WhatsApp only from word of mouth with no effort from the WhatsApp team? Q3: what impact did charging for the app have on the company finances and…

1. yes, i believe so - of course it was eight years ago.. i think if you submitted new version of the app and changed the name, it would show up under "new" category

2. yes, word of mouth only... but we helped people spread the word by putting "Tell A Friend" functionality into the app :)

3. it helped us pay for office space, salaries and server bills without eating much into VC or angel money we had in our bank account.

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#29

Post by cryodesign »

jankoum wrote: post #24
NavyDish wrote: post #23

Can you please post a reddit-AMA style proof to assure users that it really is you. It is unbelievable that you weren't aware of HN and that the profile was created just a few hours ago. Thanks. :)

i have no idea what is reddit-AMA style proof is... sorry i didn't get around to making HN account before today.

AMA = Ask Me Anything

And people doing these AMAs on reddit usually post a picture of themselves with a sign, see https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=reddit+ama+proof&source=ln...

Re: Startup School 8: Jan Koum of WhatsApp

#30

Post by panabee »

jankoum wrote: post #26
panabee wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for the cynics who will invariably pile on with "survivorship bias," would you mind sharing what choices you consciously made that were different from other messaging apps?

there were a few and i probably won't be able to list all of them, but here are some: - build for multiple platforms. most of our competitors did iOS and Android only and called it a day. - keep the app simple. most of our competitors complicated not only the sign up flow but also the in-app experience - look native. our thinking was that hundreds of millions of people use native apps thousands times a day and if we…

thanks so much! keeping whatsapp simple and focused on replacing SMS/MMS seems like the key differentiator. was there ever internal conflict about making whatsapp more complex or "instagram-y"?

do you mind also sharing what the burn rate per MAU/DAU was around the acquisition?

thanks again!

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