WhatsApp, founded by Koum, initially started as an address book app but pivoted to a messaging platform, leading to explosive growth due to its emphasis on user experience and no advertising. The app offered a cost-effective alternative to SMS and MMS, facilitating easy international communication without the need for reconstructing social graphs. Its growth was primarily driven by word-of-mouth and a user-friendly model, which set expectations for payment after a free trial year.

1. What made whatsapp
worth $19 billion?

3. The Whatsapp timeline
April
2009
October
2009
April
2011
November
2011
July
2013
January
2014
February
2014
April
2014

4. Whatsapp Growth
http://readwrite.com/2014/04/23/whatsapp-facebook-instagram-billion-users

5. ORIGINAL PROBLEM:
MISSED PHONE CALLS
Koum, the founder, built an address book app that also showed the
current status of your friends.
He was tired of missing phone calls while at the gym.

6. The Early Pivot
• Original app was buggy and crashed
• Apple launches push notifications in iOS
• Koum adds push notifications to WhatsApp
• Users use the change in status to ping each
other—the notification becomes the message

7. The Early Pivot
• Koum realizes he’s built mobile messaging and
pivots from address book status manager to
messaging app
• User base explodes to 250,000 with pivot

8. Remarkable Focus on Product
• Laser focus on core user experience—no
ads, no games, no gimmicks
• No user acquisition spend
• Focus on maximum utility
• Focus on broad adoption and
interoperability, not just smartphones

9. Co-founder Acton’s
admonition hung
over Koum’s desk.

10. Whatsapp’s aha! moment
• The cheap alternative to SMS and MMS
messaging with no limits
• Additional features like photo, video and group
texting
• Super simple to use—uses your existing contact
book, no rebuilding of a social graph
• Cross-platform, not closed like BBM and iMessage

11. GLOBAL Focus
• Feature phones focus across carriers
• Super-simple to send pictures, video and
texts overseas
• Unlocks pent-up text demand from
restrictive carrier charges & plans

12. fastest growing countries:
Brazil, Mexico, India, Russia

13. Word of mouth drives growth
• No paid advertising
• No marketing
• Not a press darling
• “Near perfect market information”

14. The YEAR LONG TRIAL
• No cost to use for first year, $0.99 per
year thereafter
• Sets paid expectation, but eliminates
friction from network building
• Creates lock-in and habit prior to charging

15. Today’s Growth engine
• Facebook effect helps fuel growth
• Face challenges in US market with low
messaging rates and in China with tough
competition
• Will they introduce voice calling next?

16. Growth Engines
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