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It is very nice to have first mover advantage. Many web and mobile application companies today do not have first mover advantage. This was a good talk to listen

It is very nice to have first mover advantage. Many web and mobile application companies today do not have first mover advantage. This was a good talk to listen to if you have quietly stumbled on something that people want before the rest of the product builders find out.

samfisher83 9y ago
There were a lot messaging apps before whatsapp so they weren't first. I think the smartest thing they did was use the phone number as the user ID. It really reduced the friction for a lot of people.
hboon 9y ago
But they didn't have first mover advantage. There was ping and a few other similar apps on the iOS app store. WhatsApp focused (correctly) on distribution over several platforms.
- mtgx 9y ago
  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 2009 at the latest (basically when Whatsapp was launched), and it would've dominated.
  - hboon 9y ago
    Possibly. On hindsight, RIM totally underestimated the onslaught on mobile started by iOS and later also by Android. They never thought those platforms could take off, so their decision is understandable (but totally wrong of course).
  - jankoum 9y ago
    yes of course - because having a random 8 digit hex pin was so user friendly, easy and intuitive :)
    - a_d 9y ago
      What did you do in the very early days to promote the app (apart from Flyertalk)?
      - jankoum 9y ago
        heh Flyertalk... awesome forum btw. until we added messaging nothing I did worked. once we added messaging it took off on its own.
        a_d 9y ago
        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?
        jankoum 9y ago
        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.
        a_d 9y ago
        Thank you for the answers.
        9y ago

samfisher83 9y ago

There were a lot messaging apps before whatsapp so they weren't first. I think the smartest thing they did was use the phone number as the user ID. It really reduced the friction for a lot of people.

hboon 9y ago

But they didn't have first mover advantage. There was ping and a few other similar apps on the iOS app store. WhatsApp focused (correctly) on distribution over several platforms.

mtgx 9y ago
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 2009 at the latest (basically when Whatsapp was launched), and it would've dominated.
- hboon 9y ago
  Possibly. On hindsight, RIM totally underestimated the onslaught on mobile started by iOS and later also by Android. They never thought those platforms could take off, so their decision is understandable (but totally wrong of course).
- jankoum 9y ago
  yes of course - because having a random 8 digit hex pin was so user friendly, easy and intuitive :)
  - a_d 9y ago
    What did you do in the very early days to promote the app (apart from Flyertalk)?
    - jankoum 9y ago
      heh Flyertalk... awesome forum btw. until we added messaging nothing I did worked. once we added messaging it took off on its own.
      - a_d 9y ago
        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?
        jankoum 9y ago
        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.
        a_d 9y ago
        Thank you for the answers.
        9y ago