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

news.ycombinator.com

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

#41

Post by JazzmamGT »

nafizh wrote: post #9

Hey, congrats on your launch. The first thing that comes to my mind is I hate recording myself. Even on zoom meetings I try to turn the video off as much as possible. It also seems easier to me to share a thought or suggestion over chat when there is no expectation of instant reply given writing something down forces you to filter your thoughts and specify the concrete details. How do you show the utility of self-rec…

Sometimes you don't have to share your face... just the notepad and pencil, and you can talk as you write.

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

#42

Post by tannerhp1 »

In what contexts and use cases do you see lo-fi video outweighing text or the traditional mediums most? I can see some use cases where this would definitely make since. As some of the other comments mention, I imagine getting people to initially using this new medium is key.

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

#43

Post by sebmellen »

jeffwhitlock wrote: post #35
ngould wrote: post #29

> We hope to ultimately build a Slack/Teams alternative designed for rich, asynchronous human interactions that encourage deep work. All I can say is keep going. I've been feeling the absence of this for a while, and have taken to making occasional videos on Loom to supplement live meetings and Slack messages. But it's a disjointed experience, and Loom is not trying to be a collaboration tool at all. It would be grea…

Thanks for the encouragement and article on Figma. > By the way, I downloaded the PingPong app, and it seems great. Are you selling subscriptions, or just putting the free version out there for now? No paid subscription for now; we're optimizing for usage and feedback. We should always have a free plan and introduce new features into a paid tier in the long run.

Any expectation on pricing? Would be nice to know what your prospective model looks like before diving in.

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

#44

Post by saurik »

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

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

#45

Post by jeffwhitlock »

tannerhp1 wrote: post #42

In what contexts and use cases do you see lo-fi video outweighing text or the traditional mediums most? I can see some use cases where this would definitely make since. As some of the other comments mention, I imagine getting people to initially using this new medium is key.

Good Question. With video, anything that carries emotional content or where tone/intent can be misconstrued (e.g., gratitude, announcements, feedback, following up).

With screen recording, we've learned that so many messages can be made more efficient by showing an asset while you talk (e.g., documents, presentations, designs). We even will show our IDEs while doing standups over PingPong.

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

#46

Post by jeffwhitlock »

sebmellen wrote: post #43
jeffwhitlock wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the encouragement and article on Figma. > By the way, I downloaded the PingPong app, and it seems great. Are you selling subscriptions, or just putting the free version out there for now? No paid subscription for now; we're optimizing for usage and feedback. We should always have a free plan and introduce new features into a paid tier in the long run.

Any expectation on pricing? Would be nice to know what your prospective model looks like before diving in.

We don't have definitive plans at this point, but it will likely be a few dollars per user per month. But what's currently in the product will probably be free indefinitely.

We hope to encourage people to pay with new, great features. I'm against moving features we've already given our users for free behind a paid plan.

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

#47

Post by sebmellen »

jeffwhitlock wrote: post #46
sebmellen wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any expectation on pricing? Would be nice to know what your prospective model looks like before diving in.

We don't have definitive plans at this point, but it will likely be a few dollars per user per month. But what's currently in the product will probably be free indefinitely. We hope to encourage people to pay with new, great features. I'm against moving features we've already given our users for free behind a paid plan.

Sounds great!

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

#48

Post by orliesaurus »

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!

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

#49

Post by kevsim »

I really like this concept. I think for me one of the things that kills me about Slack is the way people write tiny little stream of consciousness messages. These are way less thought through even than they would be if you were having a normal conversation and serve as a distraction when it comes to the constant notifications.

I think asking people to stop and think a little bit (which I believe recording a video does) is great. I'll take one thoughtful video over 50 incoherent messages any day of the week.

Also thinking about trying this for a daily sync/standup since we often hear that people are not really listening to their teammates during these but instead are thinking of what they're going to say instead, which is of course entirely self defeating. Taking a minute to record your own video and then being able to consume your teams videos in an non-distracted way sounds spot on.

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