we love a challenge

Om posted this morning and announced our funding among other things. It's always interesting to see what resonates with whom. Most early
stage company coverage must have a contemplating question (like is this going to work?) otherwise it wouldn't be early stage. Om posed three challenges to jangl, which I'd like to riff on for a sec:

----
1. The Jangl system doesn't make much sense unless it gets massive user adoption.

2. The system, which I have only viewed, not used is far from friction less. Despite all the good work, it could be a lot simpler.

3. Skype, Skype, Skype.

----

We love a good challenge, otherwise we wouldn't be here. Here are
some thoughts to the challenges Om poses...

#1: Getting massive user adoption is one obvious measuring stick we have. Of course, we're swinging for the fences. However, getting massive user adoption for us isn't the same as it was for Skype, for example. At first Skype only worked at all if the people you wanted to talk to had Skype. jangl is about enabling new relationships. There is not a required network effect before jangl “makes sense”. We need two people with cell phones (or any other kind of phone) to add our value. That value we add does not change significantly whether we have 100k or 100 mm users. Of course, the more people using it the more people know what a handl is.

#2: I think Om is referring to the first-time use of jangl, as containing friction. Certainly, once it's set up for the first time, there is zero friction. You add that person's jangl # into your contacts as you would any 10-digit number, and call that number every time. In the set up process, you're giving someone your jangl "handl" and they either call the main jangl # and submit that handl, or else go to jangl.com and enter that handl. In return they get a number that's used on an ongoing basis for you. We like this approach because it's viral, which helps with #1. Of course, a lot of this is simplified with the jangl widget. Oh, another thing I think Om experienced when he called my jangl #, was a caller screening feature I have turned on. It required him to introduce himself before connecting to me; that's an option/feature, not a requirement. Finally, I'll say that all other VoIP based solutions are tied to
VoIP access; rendering them full of friction, i.e. headsets or ATAs. We don't have either.

#3: Skype a challenge for jangl? Well they got the ebay deal so that's certainly a challenge-but I'd argue that we are more of a partner potential to Skype than a competitor. Skype is about free or
cheap talking. jangl is about being a social utility on any phone, but likely your mobile phone. Will Skype eventually do the kind of thing we are doing? Perhaps, but they are client software that the
consumer has to download. We don't have any client software or hardware and work on any phone. In any case, Skype has done great things and paved lots of way in the first gen of consumer VoIP. I think the next gen of consumer VoIP is more about lifestyle.

-mc

Comments

[Nick]

I believe there is a strong corporate application for Jangl. If you'd like to hear the idea, send me an email (but remove the extra "oo" from the address first). Happy to share it, just don't like typing long emails if they're not going to be read...