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Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

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61–70 of 71 posts

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#62

Lots of naming options and this one is one of the worst IMO. To much history of what ping pong is already and because it is an active thing it as opposed to stripe which is a static not activity thing. Worth changing ASAP

I saw ”PingPong” and ”video messaging for teams” in the title and immediately got idea what this is likely about (and it turned out to be correct).

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#63

Lots of naming options and this one is one of the worst IMO. To much history of what ping pong is already and because it is an active thing it as opposed to stripe which is a static not activity thing. Worth changing ASAP

Thanks for the feedback. Naming is hard!

Is the concern that it may be too easily confused with the game? I'd love to understand your feedback a little better.

We felt that PingPong gives a pretty clear picture of sending something back and forth.

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#64

Hello everyone co-founder and CTO at Loom. There are lots of conversations around owning the end-to-end communication loop with Loom (and other async video products). Our team went over a ton of use cases we use Loom for that are pretty relevant to this thread in a webinar I'm linking to below. https://www.loom.com/share/fe062f809754416b9d583266b47b9303 We will continue building out our platform, but we are instead f…

Thanks for the encouragement!

That focus for Loom sounds on-point. As you said, those are hard to do and extremely valuable, which further differentiates.

Truthfully, I’m honored that you took the time to comment. I am a big fan of Loom and have been for some time. We pay for and use (and plan to forever use) Loom for some use cases at PingPong (e.g., videos on our product wiki, support pages, reporting bugs in our own product).

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#65

Congrats on the launch! I work for a video-chat startup as well, and although we’re focused on synchronous rather than asynchronous, maybe my perspective will be useful. In the “Woice” launch-thread, I noted that the power of voice-communication is in its real-time feedback loop that is like a collaborative search algorithm for both identifying and solving problems. My concern is how to keep that algorithm operationa…

Your perspective is helpful; thanks for sharing. That’s a good point about async opening up the possibility of multi-layer threads. We’ll consider that! We’d need to figure out how to do it in a way to help people not get lost. I’ll also think more about if there’s a way to somehow recapture the efficiency from real-time feedback in synchronous voice communication.

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#66
post #44

I had actually bookmarked a service years ago that sounds (from the comments) similar: Talkshow. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19561585 (I accidentally clicked the bookmark today and was confused if it was this thread ;P.) This company might have had some relationship to the Clubhouse team? https://twitter.com/semil/status/1254756645059489792?s=21

I had a hard time finding Talkshow - looks like they might have shut down (I could be wrong). But there are some relevant comments in that thread; thanks for pointing me here!

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#67

I do think you're on the right path. There's a list of things as a manager I appreciate about pingpong's potential: 1. More personable 2. Ability to check on remote employees indirectly 3. Seems like it can lead to more meaningful company communication 4. I don't feel I need to organize a video chat to convey things that may be harder to convey via text. It's nice to have a quick option to record and send. These are…

Thanks for the great feedback. This is a focus for us to figure out.

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#68

Sup Jeff! Glad to see you on HN! Been using pingpong almost every week since installing it! I am sharing my feedback here but I already told you about it all: - lenght of video, needs more options - a way to see reactions to my vids faster and more concisely, maybe a timeline view - better UI/UX for threaded back and forth pingpongs - that camera bug on desktop where my face is super zoomed in Boom! Love it!

Thanks for giving it a try, and for the feedback. Keep it coming!

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#69
Congrats on the launch! It definitely seems like it is a deficiency within the current suite of communication tools. I saw you mentioned in your post that you use Ping Pong and slack, and that ping pong will eventually have text and file sharing. Just curious, what are scenarios when you need to use structured text? Is it more for documentation purposes e.g. lists, tasks, etc.? I see the value in both, but it definitely makes sense to lead with video to prove out that value. I almost feel like 50-75% verbal communication better mimics an in-person office setting. But still gives you the opportunity to plan out what you will say before sending it.

Re: Launch HN: PingPong (YC W21) – Video messaging for remote teams

#70
Love the idea of more asynchronous collaboration. Helps preserve valuable engineering flow time while still allowing for thorough feedback from stakeholders. Are there ways to know when someone has viewed my video? Excited to try this out with my team.
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