5. The Big Idea
Google organized the world’s public data
But, personal data is different
2
6. The Big Idea
Google organized the world’s public data
But, personal data is different
+ There is no Google of personal
information
2
7. The Big Idea
Google organized the world’s public data
But, personal data is different
+ There is no Google of personal
information
+ 10x more personal data in the world
than public info
2
8. The Big Idea
Google organized the world’s public data
But, personal data is different
+ There is no Google of personal
information
+ 10x more personal data in the world
than public info
+ Most personal data is trapped in email
2
9. The Big Idea
Google organized the world’s public data
But, personal data is different
+ There is no Google of personal
information
+ 10x more personal data in the world
than public info
+ Most personal data is trapped in email
= Foundation for Xobni 2
14. The Result
• A lean startup was our only option
• We had a lot to learn about email
4
15. 5 stages of Xobni
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
16. 1. Stealth
1.5
years
50
users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
17. 1. Stealth
• Knew the vision, but not the product
• Lots of pivots in early years
• Pivot 1: Choosing Outlook
• Pivot 2: Analytics to sidebar
• Pivot 3: Raise $4M & hire 6 employees
1.5
years
50
users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
20. Pivot 1: Outlook
• We wanted to build our own email client
• However, surveys & research showed
Outlook was biggest among people
with $
7
21. Pivot 1: Outlook
• We wanted to build our own email client
• However, surveys & research showed
Outlook was biggest among people
with $
• Our own email client would take huge
marketing budget to get people to try
7
22. Pivot 1: Outlook
• We wanted to build our own email client
• However, surveys & research showed
Outlook was biggest among people
with $
• Our own email client would take huge
marketing budget to get people to try
• Lower user adoption risk on Outlook
7
25. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
8
26. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
8
27. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
That took over 4 months to build
8
28. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
That took over 4 months to build
8
29. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
That took over 4 months to build
And wasn’t a product people would use on a
daily basis
8
30. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
That took over 4 months to build
And wasn’t a product people would use on a
daily basis
8
31. Xobni Analytics
Analytics was our 6 week project to
understand email better and establish
thought leadership.
That took over 4 months to build
And wasn’t a product people would use on a
daily basis
But gave us the understanding for our next
pivot 8
37. Pivot 2: Moved from analytics to
sidebar
How we came to this realization
12
38. Pivot 2: Moved from analytics to
sidebar
How we came to this realization
• Selling Xobni Analytics to
investors; best pitch was what
we could tell them about people
12
39. Pivot 2: Moved from analytics to
sidebar
How we came to this realization
• Selling Xobni Analytics to
investors; best pitch was what
we could tell them about people
•Dog fooding on our own email
12
41. Pivot 3: Raise VC to hire
• Building product for enterprise users
was more work than we thought
13
42. Pivot 3: Raise VC to hire
• Building product for enterprise users
was more work than we thought
• Couldn’t hire with $80k in bank
13
43. Pivot 3: Raise VC to hire
• Building product for enterprise users
was more work than we thought
• Couldn’t hire with $80k in bank
• Potential employees got away
13
44. Pivot 3: Raise VC to hire
• Building product for enterprise users
was more work than we thought
• Couldn’t hire with $80k in bank
• Potential employees got away
• Raised $4M and hired 6 people
13
45. 2. Private Beta
1.5 9
years months
50 60k
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
46. 2. Private Beta
• Worked towards product/market fit
• Heavy focus on performance
• Most surveying, user studies, starbucks testing in
company history
• Cut 1/2 of features
• Pivot 4: People profiles
1.5 9
years months
50 60k
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
47. Pivot 4: Do one thing, and do
it right: People profiles
15
48. 3. Public Beta
1.5 9 1 year
years months
2M
50 60k users
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
49. 3. Public Beta
• Business will be dual prong: direct to consumer &
enterprise
• Raise $10M from Cisco & BlackBerry
• Pivot 5 - Search not relationships for 1st premium
1.5 9 1 year
years months
2M
50 60k users
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
51. Pivot 5: Search not
relationships for 1st premium
• Xobni stands on two pillars: search & relationship
management
17
52. Pivot 5: Search not
relationships for 1st premium
• Xobni stands on two pillars: search & relationship
management
• Planned on monetizing relationship features first
17
53. Pivot 5: Search not
relationships for 1st premium
• Xobni stands on two pillars: search & relationship
management
• Planned on monetizing relationship features first
• However, one engineer convinced me to sell a
search product first
– something we needed to build anyway
– low market risk
– low execution risk for team
17
54. Pivot 5: Search not
relationships for 1st premium
• Xobni stands on two pillars: search & relationship
management
• Planned on monetizing relationship features first
• However, one engineer convinced me to sell a
search product first
– something we needed to build anyway
– low market risk
– low execution risk for team
• The birth of Xobni Plus
17
55. 4. GA & Biz model
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M
50 60k users
users users
3M
users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
56. 4. GA & Biz model
• Came out of beta - enterprise adoption
• Needed business model to fund paid growth
• Rev line 1: Xobni Plus
• Rev line 2: Xobni Enterprise
• Rev line 3: Xobni BlackBerry
• Rev line 4: Xobni One
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M
50 60k users
users users
3M
users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
60. Free Premium
Xobni
Plus
Xobni Free $29.95
for Outlook
61. Free Premium
Xobni
Plus
Xobni Free $29.95
for Outlook Xobni
Enterprise
$36/user/yr
62. Free Premium
Xobni
Blackberry
$9.99
Xobni
Plus
Xobni Free $29.95
for Outlook Xobni
Enterprise
$36/user/yr
63. Free Premium
Xobni
Blackberry
$9.99
Xobni One
$3.99/mo
Xobni
Plus
Xobni Free $29.95
for Outlook Xobni
Enterprise
$36/user/yr
64. Free Premium
Xobni
Blackberry
$9.99
Xobni One
$3.99/mo
New
mobile &
email
Xobni platforms
Plus
Xobni Free $29.95
for Outlook Xobni
Enterprise
$36/user/yr
65. 5. Growth
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M 6
50 50 users months
users users
3M 5M
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
66. 5. Growth
• Taking Xobni experience to new mobile & email platforms
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M 6
50 50 users months
users users
3M 5M
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
67. 5. Growth
• Taking Xobni experience to new mobile & email platforms
• Aggressively acquiring new Outlook users
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M 6
50 50 users months
users users
3M 5M
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
68. 5. Growth
• Taking Xobni experience to new mobile & email platforms
• Aggressively acquiring new Outlook users
• Sales team adding new enterprise accounts
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M 6
50 50 users months
users users
3M 5M
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
69. 5. Growth
• Taking Xobni experience to new mobile & email platforms
• Aggressively acquiring new Outlook users
• Sales team adding new enterprise accounts
• Building new products to monetize Outlook, mobile & web
users
1.5 9 1 year 6
years months months
2M 6
50 50 users months
users users
3M 5M
users users
Private Public GA & Biz
Stealth Growth
Beta Beta model
70. The 5 stages of Xobni’s growth
& 5 pivots along the way
Matt Brezina
Co-founder, Xobni
Twitter: @brezina
mattbrezina.com/blog