Before I worked for Twilio, I worked for an tier-1 SMS aggregator. Integrating with the various providers - even in the US - was a pain in the ass and connectiv

Before I worked for Twilio, I worked for an tier-1 SMS aggregator. Integrating with the various providers - even in the US - was a pain in the ass and connectivity fees started in the $10k+ range with monthly minimums and 10c/message iirc. When I played with Twilio then, I knew they'd win, it was just a matter of when. When I joined Twilio, I focused on use cases that connected communications to revenue.. either on the sales side or the customer support side. Sure, 1c/message in isolation seems expensive until you realize that by sending a handful of messages (aka pennies) and being more transparent with customers, your churn drops (aka dollars). At that point, it's not even a debate. On the international front, it got even more complex. The aggregator I worked for had contracts in the US, LATAM, and throughout Europe, each one had different interfaces, connectors, and agreements. Twilio has one. Once again, not even a debate. Disclosure: I've been out of Twilio for 3.5 years, so no inside info here but I still have shares.