MOTIVATIONAL STORY OF WHATSAPP FOUNDERS
Jan Koum and Brian Acton (Founders of WhatsApp):
Brian Acton was raised in central Florida and attended two separate universities before graduating from Stanford University in 1994 with a degree in computer sciences. Upon having his degree, he first started working for Apple as a software engineer. In 1996 he was employed by Yahoo as the 44th employee. Acton worked as a software engineer, concentrating on Promotion and also Data Processing.
Jan Koum, a Ukrainian, traveled to the US at the age of sixteen as a result of the vicious treatment Jews were getting in the country. After they arrived in the United States, Jan and his mother were living on food stamps. He ran into Brian Acton in 1997 at Yahoo, where they were both working and finally became good friends. By 2007, the two of them had become disappointed, so they left Yahoo to search for new challenges, and they began exploring South America for a year.
Regardless of their numerous years of experience as software engineer, they were the type of people which nobody wanted to employ. They already worked in companies such as Yahoo as well as Apple Computer, but they were turned down by two leading companies Facebook and Twitter. Later on, Jan Koum together with Brian Acton designed a project (WhatsApp) that made it possible for them to focus on developing an easy-to-use messaging program and the technique paid off. WhatsApp brought together 450 million monthly subscribers. Their plan was that smartphone owners ought to be able to conveniently message one another without incurring charges from mobile phone service providers. They declined to place adverts in their program and solely relied on the product recommendations of end users of the product. Whatsapp was integrated on Jan Koum birthday Feb. 24, 2009. In recent times, WhatsApp grew to become the most commonly used apps all over the world.
In 2014, the co-founders consented to sell off WhatsApp to Facebook., Facebook bought WhatsApp for whopping $19 billion US dollars in cash as well as stock. Brian holds a stake of 20% in the organization.
Lessons from Jan Koum’s (and Brian Acton’s) story:
One’s historical past is not a valid excuse for failing in life: Jan Koum has done menial jobs such as clearing and mopping at a food store while his mother took up a babysitting job. At a point in time in his life, he and his mother depended on stipends from the government. (Jan signed the contract with Facebook on the doorway of the social service office wherein he and his mother once stand to get meals stamps.)
Adversity ought to cause you to be more powerful and robust not break you: Jan learned computer networking just by himself by making use of books from a second handed bookstore. He couldn’t pay for a training course, but now he has grown to become a billionaire today.
It is possible to make money from one’s own experience: Jan’s practical expertise in communist Ukraine in which secret cops bugged telephone lines profoundly influenced his choice to build WhatsApp. He desired something that guaranteed to message privacy. “I grew up in a country in which I still remember my parents not having the ability to enjoy a conversation on the mobile phone,” he described. “The walls got ears. Therefore, you couldn’t discuss unreservedly.”
In case you found your work uninteresting, take a leave: Jan and Brian grew to become frustrated with everyday life at Yahoo, so they resign.
Don’t let disappointment to devastate you: Jan and Brian were turned down for a job by Facebook. Brian has also been turned down by Twitter, and he bore it on the chin. Taken a look at this: “Got declined by Twitter HQ. That’s all right. Will have been a long commute.” and this “Facebook turned me down. It had been an excellent opportunity to meet up with some wonderful individuals. I am Anticipating life’s next exploration.”
Be passion-driven, not money-driven: Jan desired to build something that will satisfy a necessity, then when the product filled the need, money followed. Currently, he is a billionaire. Profit was not his primary objective. He claims he just wished to develop a good product or service. “I initiated WhatsApp, to develop something unique. I do not desire to create a company around it; the objective was never to get paid. We wished to devote our precious time making a product individuals desired to make use of since it works well for them and also end up saving their cash as well as made life much better in its little way.” He tweeted in 2012 that he was not an entrepreneur: “Next person to call me an entrepreneur is getting punched in the face by my bodyguard, seriously.”(Jan; 2012).
An outstanding package will probably promote themselves: WhatsApp features a ‘no ads’ policy. The company refuses to take part in marketing, promoting and advertising but it possesses over 450 million existing subscribers, attaining the figure much faster than any company in the past. This is exactly what WhatsApp argues concerning promotions, “No one wakes up happy to notice a lot more advertisement, nobody would go to bed thinking of the adverts they’ll see the next day. We understand individuals go to bed thinking about who they chatted with on that particular day (as well as unhappy with regards to who they didn’t). We would like WhatsApp to be the service that will keep you awake and which you go to first thing in the morning.
A person is never way too aged to embark on an adventure, probably not a technology company. Acton argues that old age is an edge, stating that his goal is not clouded by the impulse to be great, he only wants to be practical.
Having a common interest is crucial for achieving success. You might assert that if there were absolutely no ultimate Frisbee, presently there could perhaps be no Whatsapp. These guys turned close friends on the work floor, however, remained in touch as a result of their passion for the sport. As it was at one of those games, Acton informed Koum that he shouldn’t stop trying.
Ensure that your co-founder is the yin to your yang. You could notice in such cases just how crucial it will be that the man or woman you working with fills in the spaces you may be omitting. Your co-founder really should have almost all the skills you don’t possess.
Think long-run, collectively. Acton and Koum had the definite idea of how their product would be. They both were on the same page and precisely understood what their product or service is, and what it was going to be.
Reference
Jan K, (2012, may 22). twitter.com/jankoum/status/205072634852020224. Accessed December 16, 2017.