Jan Koum Opens Up About Early Days Of WhatsApp

WhatsApp is 1 of the most wildly popular messaging platforms, which I'one thousand certain a lot of y'all use daily to communicate with your friends and family. The platform has at present swelled to more than ane.3 billion monthly active users but exercise y'all fifty-fifty know how it came into existence?

Well, we now finally know the motive backside the launch of this messaging phenomenon.

Apprehensive Beginnings

January Koum, who founded WhatsApp along with co-founder Brian Acton, back in 2009 told the audience about the beginnings of the messaging service during an effect this calendar week at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. so, let's dive in.

The idea for edifice WhatsApp Messenger came to Koum when he purchased his get-go-ever iPhone and was struck with a grave dilemma. The touchscreen smartphone in his pocket was a great device for that fourth dimension, just he couldn't cease missing calls from friends and family unit while he was at the gym. He quoted,

"Information technology started with me buying an iPhone. I got annoyed that I was missing calls when I went to the gym."

This means even though Koum now owned a 'smart' telephone, he was helpless in making his peers enlightened of his current whereabouts. He couldn't tell them if he was available to talk or unavailable for some reason.

Thus, Koum decided to build an app that could assistance him, too equally Acton, tell their friends of their electric current power to reach and pick up the telephone through a characteristic called Status (does that ring any bells!?). He further went to tell the audience,

"We didn't ready out to build a company. We merely wanted to build a product that people used."

But, since the app market was still budding dorsum in 2009 and Android was out to compete with iOS, WhatsApp did not taste success right off the bat. Koum was super excited for WhatsApp to exist accepted into Apple's App Store,but was hugely disappointed when not a whole lot of people had adopted information technology dorsum then. This, however, changed very soon.

Conquering past Facebook

Fast forrard to 2014, the messaging service that had Koum worried about its acceptance was now booming. It had amassed a scintillating 400+ million users worldwide, but that'south just beginning of the fun part.

The traction for WhatsApp attracted many suitors who wanted to acquire Koum's visitor and Facebook finally did. It paid in backlog of $19 billion to rope in the largest messaging platform, making both the co-founders billionaires in the process.

The interviewer asked Koum whether he remembered the twenty-four hour period WhatsApp was no longer a standalone messaging giant but a part of the biggest social networking giant. Oh well, he answered that information technology all happened in a rush and added,

"Information technology was all a blur. I don't call back any of that except beingness in a room with lawyers for three days straight."

This story reiterates the unproblematic advice that y'all'd have already heard from entrepreneurs. Both Koum and Acton wanted to build a platform that could solve their personal problem, but as yous can see it resulted in the creation of something simplifies the life of billions of people around the earth.

This led the interviewer to question Koum about his motivation for waking up on the daily and still working on this project. Information technology was added that he's already a billionaire and could motility on from Facebook (but like his other co-founder) to start another projection. But, Koum added that,

"We yet have a lot of people who don't apply our production. We want to convince them. We still have problems to solve."

And if you lot took a second to take a closer expect, you'll find that WhatsApp is likewise post-obit its parent's lead to make the platform fifty-fifty safer for communities. It is currently said to be working on features to meliorate group interactions and prevent the spread of spam on their widespread messaging platform. Then, did you like that trip downwards memory lane? Let united states know your thoughts downwards below.

Source: https://beebom.com/this-is-how-whatsapp-messenger-came-into-existence/

Posted by: belltheirturavid.blogspot.com

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