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Dang! 9 years ago we announced an app that did this right here on Hacker News. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2285594 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?i

by ekanes 6y ago

Dang! 9 years ago we announced an app that did this right here on Hacker News. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2285594 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2285594 How we did it: We hired the AT&T lady to make a recording that said, "Press 1 for your next caller". We played that on a loop for operators. When we detected a DTMF "1" we'd call your cellphone and connect the calls. We had most of the big companies in the app, but failed in the end because we couldn't find a business model. My first VC-funded startup. :) Site is still up! (But not longer mine) http:/www.fastcustomer.com/ What I'm up to now: http://www.happymonday.com/ http://www.happymonday.com/ (helping people find work based on mutual values, priorities and functional work culture fit.)

tantalor 6y ago
Did you try to pitch it to a phone maker? This sounds like an idea that sells a phone, not something you would buy.
- ekanes 6y ago
  Great point. We ended up speaking with Telstra (big Aussie telecom) about rolling us out in their Android phones, but it didn't go anywhere.
gowld 6y ago
You should have played ads while the caller was no hol--- uh, oh. Why did you need VC for this?
- ekanes 6y ago
  I couldn't afford to fund development of it myself. It was a small team, and we were careful with the capital. We raised $750k. Making the phone calls was also a cost that scaled up (Twilio, etc)
bluebknight 6y ago
We did something similar about 6 years ago. The user gets a chat interface while one of our operators transcribe the conversation both ways. I believe Path Talk did something similar too. I'm curious about how you raised so much money?
- ekanes 6y ago
  Yeah, it's an interesting space, trying to help companies and people have less friction. We were solving a very real and emotional problem, received a lot of press coverage. TIME magazine named us one of their "Top 10 of everything" in 2011, for example. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2100600_2100613,00.html http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,288... (look at that old iOS interface :) Each time we were covered, we got more downloads, and were able to raise some more money. I don't think the money was misplaced. It was a good bet, sometimes they just don't work out.
sam1r 6y ago
If you were to do this today - would you use twilio as part of the automation? Awesome concept that you tried to solve ahead of its time.
- ekanes 6y ago
  I would use Twilio for prototyping, then switch to something else for scale, as it gets expensive.
  - sam1r 6y ago
    Do you think about revisiting this space again with today's current context? For instance, here are some features that I wish existed in the market with current automation phone techologies + respective APIs. - Default voicemail, but having the flexibility to store, edit, record multiple voicemails that can be triggered based on context. If the phone number is not in my contacts / not recognized / no previous-history/interaction, play this voicemail. If my mom calls on the weekend, play her this one letter her know I'm out of the office. Spam number calls, automatically have automated voice say "I know you are a spam bot, reporting now.... please hang up as you are being recorded" - grant auth to another individual to receive sms forwarding for a particular number. I.e. customer support text messages forwarded to my phone number, I would like to grant individual X to receive them, and when they reply back, it passes through my phone and to the end customer, who thinks they are interacting with me. ^^ just a few but I have a list somewhere. If this is interesting, I'd love to discuss/collaborate or minimally get your advice + thoughts. makhani@berkeley.edu
    - ekanes 6y ago
      I think it's a tough space. I'd start by trying to make sure people would PAY for whatever you want to build. The needs you're talking about are pretty specific.
luziusfly 6y ago
Hey ekanes! Super interesting. I'm currently building something like this, with Twilio as well. Focusing on the Spanish market at the moment. Any chance we could have a chat on Twitter or somewhere else? Here's the link btw: https://www.deicol.com/en.html https://www.deicol.com/en.html

by ekanes 6y ago

tantalor 6y ago

Did you try to pitch it to a phone maker? This sounds like an idea that sells a phone, not something you would buy.

ekanes 6y ago
Great point. We ended up speaking with Telstra (big Aussie telecom) about rolling us out in their Android phones, but it didn't go anywhere.

gowld 6y ago

You should have played ads while the caller was no hol--- uh, oh. Why did you need VC for this?

ekanes 6y ago
I couldn't afford to fund development of it myself. It was a small team, and we were careful with the capital. We raised $750k. Making the phone calls was also a cost that scaled up (Twilio, etc)

bluebknight 6y ago

We did something similar about 6 years ago. The user gets a chat interface while one of our operators transcribe the conversation both ways. I believe Path Talk did something similar too. I'm curious about how you raised so much money?

ekanes 6y ago
Yeah, it's an interesting space, trying to help companies and people have less friction. We were solving a very real and emotional problem, received a lot of press coverage. TIME magazine named us one of their "Top 10 of everything" in 2011, for example. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2100600_2100613,00.html http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,288... (look at that old iOS interface :) Each time we were covered, we got more downloads, and were able to raise some more money. I don't think the money was misplaced. It was a good bet, sometimes they just don't work out.

sam1r 6y ago

If you were to do this today - would you use twilio as part of the automation? Awesome concept that you tried to solve ahead of its time.

ekanes 6y ago
I would use Twilio for prototyping, then switch to something else for scale, as it gets expensive.
- sam1r 6y ago
  Do you think about revisiting this space again with today's current context? For instance, here are some features that I wish existed in the market with current automation phone techologies + respective APIs. - Default voicemail, but having the flexibility to store, edit, record multiple voicemails that can be triggered based on context. If the phone number is not in my contacts / not recognized / no previous-history/interaction, play this voicemail. If my mom calls on the weekend, play her this one letter her know I'm out of the office. Spam number calls, automatically have automated voice say "I know you are a spam bot, reporting now.... please hang up as you are being recorded" - grant auth to another individual to receive sms forwarding for a particular number. I.e. customer support text messages forwarded to my phone number, I would like to grant individual X to receive them, and when they reply back, it passes through my phone and to the end customer, who thinks they are interacting with me. ^^ just a few but I have a list somewhere. If this is interesting, I'd love to discuss/collaborate or minimally get your advice + thoughts. makhani@berkeley.edu
  - ekanes 6y ago
    I think it's a tough space. I'd start by trying to make sure people would PAY for whatever you want to build. The needs you're talking about are pretty specific.

luziusfly 6y ago

Hey ekanes! Super interesting. I'm currently building something like this, with Twilio as well. Focusing on the Spanish market at the moment. Any chance we could have a chat on Twitter or somewhere else? Here's the link btw: https://www.deicol.com/en.html https://www.deicol.com/en.html