What made whatsapp worth $19 billion?

The Whatsapp timeline

April 2009

October 2009

April 2011

November 2011

July 2013

January 2014

February 2014

April 2014

Whatsapp Growth

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

fastest growing countries: Brazil, Mexico, India, Russia

Word of mouth drives growth

•  No paid advertising

•  No marketing

•  Not a press darling

•  “Near perfect market information”

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

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?

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