SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH JAN KOUM THE
CO-FOUNDEROF WHATSAPP
WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum took time off from his hectic schedule at
the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, on what was his 38th birthday, to talk
to ET about the $19 billion deal with Facebook and what advice he would give
entrepreneurs.
HERE IS THE INTERVIEW WITH JAN COUM
Q:
It's said that you applied for a job at both Twitter and Facebook.
A: I was interviewed for Facebook but nothing really
worked out.
Q:
What made you start WhatsApp? How did
you hit upon the idea? What did you do that was different from other messenger
services?
A: I got an iPhone and I started to experiment trying
to build an application for an iPhone. First, we focused on using your address
book. Everybody else was using user names or pin codes, like BBM... Skype you
had to get an approval... these were all complicated processes. We just wanted
to simplify it. If you have somebody's phone number in your address book, you
are on.
We were the first guys to do it, we were actually the
first mover. Everybody else came in and tried to copy us, but they weren't
successful. We were global from day one. We focused on translations, we added
Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, into the applications from day one because
we understood that it's the power of communication, that people want to
communicate with people in other countries.
We hired really smart people, our first set of engineers
was extremely talented and allowed us to build a foundation that enabled us to
build everything on top of it.
Q:
What, if any, is the monetisation strategy of WhatsApp?
A: Today, it's a simple one - we are free for the
first year of subscription and then it's a dollar a year. There are no plans to
do anything else. We are pretty happy with this. For voice, we haven't
finalized it internally yet but we might do something different in terms of
implementation but fundamentally it will be very similar.
Q:
Some are skeptical about the quality of voice services that can be offered by
you. Please comment.
A: We are going to make sure voice works just as
well. I understand that there are bandwidth constraints, network constraints,
but we will take the same approach to voice that we took to (messaging) five
years ago, which is focus on quality, simplicity, performance so that it's the
world standard for voice just as messaging it's the world standard.
Q: Would you have done the deal at a lower
value?
A: The important thing to talk about here is not the
price. Mark asked me to be on the board of Facebook and I'm extremely
flattered. We talked about this as a partnership and not as an acquisition.
WhatsApp will continue to remain independent. There are no changes planned to
the product. Nothing really changes from the user point of view. And, so when
we were talking about this deal, we were not as interested in terms of the
numbers but as a partnership between two great companies who share the same
vision.
Q:
What will Facebook's contribution be to your voice service? Any more hiring?
A: Should be none. We are still an independent
company and we will continue to be an independent company even after the deal
closes. But we do plan to grow, absolutely. We are going to have to hire more
people to support more users and build new things like voice.
Q:
What plans do you have with the money that you get?
A: I only have one idea, that is WhatsApp, and I am
going to continue to focus on that. I have no plans to build any other ideas.
The day the deal closes, it's going to be like any other day when we will go
back to work.
Q:
How does it feel to have this success?
A: It's rewarding but again I don't spend any time
thinking about it. A lot of my time, effort and focus is spent on WhatsApp. And
that to me is more valuable and rewarding than to work on anything else.
Q: Has the world changed for you post the
Facebook deal?
A: None. Still the same. We still have a lot of work
to do. We still have a lot of people who will get onto smartphones, we still
have a lot of bugs to fix and improvements to make. Our mission is still not
done.
Q:
Do you fear someone else could build a better message/photo sharing platform
and make WhatsApp irrelevant. How will you sustain WhatsApp's competitive
advantage?
A: We have always had people copy us. It's not shocking,
if anything it's flattering. But what's important for us is to continue to get
our product right. I spend more time worrying about ourselves, that we're doing
the right thing.
Q:
Did you expect the success?
A: Probably not to this level. The size of this deal
shows how important communication is in today's world. Communication is at the
very core of our society. That's what makes us human.
Q:
How important is India as a market?
A: It's a very critical market for us. Ironically, I
grew up watching Indian movies as a kid in Russia. I am quite familiar with
Bollywood. I grew up watching Disco Dancer, I watched it some 20 times as a
kid. India is important from a personal level too.
We want all smartphone users (in India) to be on
WhatsApp. Then if that number is a billion, then it's a billion. Currently,
over 40 million. So we still have some ways to go before we hit a billion.
Q:
When do you plan to visit India?
A: Hopefully soon. Are you inviting me? I wanted to
for a long time. My schedule is a little busy but hopefully this year.
Q:
What are the three things that young entrepreneurs should focus on when
launching a startup?
A: Focus is an important part of it. A lot of times
people start out with a lot of good ideas, but then they don't execute. They
lose the purity of their vision. You end up running around in circles.
Hiring smart people, smart engineers. Focus on users
right from day one.
Q:
Would your new office have WhatsApp signage outside?
A: We haven't decided yet. We will think about it
when we come back.
Q:
What next for Jan Koum?
A: I have work to do. I get on a plane and I go back
and have to go back to the office and work
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