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WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

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Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#41

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

ransom1538 wrote: post #19

I think i see a pattern: WhatsApp: circumvent cellphone texting charges Airbnb: circumvent hotel laws Uber: circumvent taxi laws Amazon: circumvent state taxes Facebook: circumvent people's anonymity online Google: circumvent copyrights (take people's content slap on ads)

Your list is preposterous. Even if you take all your other items at face value, you make it sound like "circumventing cellphone texting charges" is breaking the law or something, as if ridiculous texting charges are set up for the good of anyone besides big telcos.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#42

Post by wyager »

ransom1538 wrote: post #19

I think i see a pattern: WhatsApp: circumvent cellphone texting charges Airbnb: circumvent hotel laws Uber: circumvent taxi laws Amazon: circumvent state taxes Facebook: circumvent people's anonymity online Google: circumvent copyrights (take people's content slap on ads)

You can't just slap the word "circumvent" onto a bunch of vastly different concepts and expect us to believe they are all similar.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#43

Post by wpietri »

bwb wrote: post #30
ransom1538 wrote: post #19

I think i see a pattern: WhatsApp: circumvent cellphone texting charges Airbnb: circumvent hotel laws Uber: circumvent taxi laws Amazon: circumvent state taxes Facebook: circumvent people's anonymity online Google: circumvent copyrights (take people's content slap on ads)

I do not see it, i just see huge value to society with each.

As an aside, "I don't see X, therefore X is irrelevant/meaningless" is an argument whose relevance hinges on the speaker being all-seeing, all-knowing. That's always seemed an odd take to me. When somebody sees something that I don't, my goal is to see it.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#44

Post by wyager »

wpietri wrote: post #39
zeroxfe wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or less cynically: WhatsApp: cheap plentiful messaging Airbnb: cheap plentiful vacation rentals Uber: cheap plentiful taxis Amazon: cheap plentiful stuff Facebook: ... umm i'm sure there's something here ... Google: cheap plentiful access to information All of these disrupt the slow-moving complacent dinosaurs of the past.

And one of the interesting questions for me is "where does 'cheap' come from"? In the case of WhatsApp, it came from telco monopolies overcharging for a particular use of data. I'm certainly ok with that. And I was initially excited about Airbnb, rideshare, etc, because some of the cheap comes from finding underutilized resources (an apartment that happened to be empty for a few weeks, people who were going somewhere…

> "Privatize the gains, socialize the losses" is undeniably a lucrative business strategy, but it's not one I particularly want to celebrate.

This doesn't describe anything that AirBnB or Uber are doing.

Taxis were expensive and horrible because governments created artificial scarcity via taxi medallion systems. They were "socializing the gains", to build off your aphorism.

Uber re-privatized the gains by circumventing this ridiculous system, and we're all much better for it.

"Socializing the losses" refers to groups getting bailed out on taxpayer dime when they fail, and nothing even resembling that has happened with AirBnB or Uber.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#45

Post by rasz »

ikeyany wrote: post #7

Why do we adhere to the assumption that number of users is the ultimate metric of software success? I would like to hear from devs who aren't interested in expanding for the sake of expanding, who still consider their apps to be very successful.

Because users are the product you sell.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#46

Post by quadrige »

wyager wrote: post #44
wpietri wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And one of the interesting questions for me is "where does 'cheap' come from"? In the case of WhatsApp, it came from telco monopolies overcharging for a particular use of data. I'm certainly ok with that. And I was initially excited about Airbnb, rideshare, etc, because some of the cheap comes from finding underutilized resources (an apartment that happened to be empty for a few weeks, people who were going somewhere…

> "Privatize the gains, socialize the losses" is undeniably a lucrative business strategy, but it's not one I particularly want to celebrate. This doesn't describe anything that AirBnB or Uber are doing. Taxis were expensive and horrible because governments created artificial scarcity via taxi medallion systems. They were "socializing the gains", to build off your aphorism. Uber re-privatized the gains by circumventi…

Airbnb socializes the costs by transfering them to the flat owners (cleaning etc.), and Uber to the drivers (fuel, maintenance etc.)

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#47

Post by dingaling »

wpietri wrote: post #35
mbesto wrote: post #3

It's super easy to focus on a single metric (user growth) when you have a seemingly unlimited amount of capital and have no immediate pressure to turn _any_ revenue/profit. This article does a massive disservice to those who are not as fortunate who will inevitably be lead into failure. Note, this should not discredit the more interesting and glorified aspects of WhatsApp (strong leadership, technical aptitude, tech…

Did you read the article? They're explicitly not focusing on user growth: "But while Facebook has long prided itself on the way its growth team has turned attracting new members into a science, Koum is equally proud of the fact that WhatsApp has not done so. Instead, all of its attention has gone into making the app as simple as possible to get started with—it doesn’t even require you to create a user name or passwor…

You are quite correct, and indeed they surrendered a considerable number of potential users by refusing to make their app easily usable on a tablet or other SIM-less device.

Which is a very interesting and rare example of prioritising one aspect of UX by completely sacrificing another.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#48

Post by pjc50 »

ransom1538 wrote: post #19

I think i see a pattern: WhatsApp: circumvent cellphone texting charges Airbnb: circumvent hotel laws Uber: circumvent taxi laws Amazon: circumvent state taxes Facebook: circumvent people's anonymity online Google: circumvent copyrights (take people's content slap on ads)

Of those description, whatsapp is the one that's actually the classic "how capitalism is supposed to work": provide a comparable or better service for a lower price.

Amazon's era of sales tax evasion is mostly over. And if anyone is monetising copyright infringement it's not Google (who are somewhat conscientious about this after some lawsuits) but Tumblr (literally made of copyright infringing photos)

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#49

Post by robjan »

ddeck wrote: post #20
bernadus_edwin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatsapp is no 1 market share in every country. If not no 1, only lost from wechat

While I agree that Whatsapp is the dominant chat app in Asia, it's not number 1 everywhere. Notably - as you mentioned - Wechat in China, but also Kakao in Korea, Zalo in Vietnam and Line in Japan and Taiwan, where very few people use Whatsapp.

In my experience, most people in Taiwan use both Whatsapp and Line

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder on How It Reached 1.3B Users Without Losing Its Focus

#50

Post by robjan »

philliphaydon wrote: post #4

The messaging app no one uses in Asia?

I live in Hong Kong and close enough to 100% of people use WhatsApp. Most businesses display their WhatApp numbers in their flyers/billboards. Also; every company, sports club, social group has a massive WhatsApp group which they use to keep people updated. It can be quite annoying, to be honest, because everyone is always constantly WhatsApping these groups at every social gathering.
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