Emily Chang - eHub Interviews

twittering: going to try a new toy tonight: brian eno's bloom iphone app. thanks to @durjoy for reminding me about it.

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Visit Slawesome, originally added to eHub on Sep 29, 05.

eHub Interviews Slawesome

Thanks to Nivi and the Slawesome team for this email interview posted October 20, 2005.

eHub: What is your web application/service about?

Slawesome: Slawesome lets you send emails with your voice. Try it out at slawesome.com - the basic service is free. It runs in any browser. You and the recipient don’t need a special client.

In general, we’re interested in voice on the Internet beyond telephony and podcasting.

eHub: Why did you start this project?

Slawesome: I wanted a way to send *anyone* a voice message with needing a special client on either end. I often prefer to talk rather than write, especially for social emails.

eHub: How much time do you devote to its growth? Do you have a day job?

Slawesome: Slawesome is my night job right now. I currently consult for Atlas Venture.

eHub: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

Slawesome: Nivi is the conductor. I don’t do any development. My background is in VC and before that at MIT.

Frederico Oliveira did all the Rails development. You can learn more about him at http://webreakstuff.com/blog/

David Horner did all the Flash development. You can learn more about him at http://siliconridge.com/main.html

Fred and Dave are both development studs.

eHub: What is your design philosophy?

Slawesome: “From early on, we wanted a product that would seem so natural and so inevitable and so simple, you almost wouldn’t think of it as having been designed.”

- Jonathan Ive, Apple VP of Industrial Design, on the iPod

eHub: What technologies are you currently using?

Slawesome: Flash, Rails.

eHub: If your project is live, what are the most requested features from your users/community?

Slawesome: Podcasting and more email functionality.

eHub: Does your user base reside in a primary geographic location or is it distributed?

Slawesome: There are messages on Slawesome where people are speaking German, some Asian language, and Spanish. That was surprising.

eHub: Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months? The next 2 years?

Slawesome: I don’t want to pre-announce features because I prefer to let the product speak for itself. But, in general, we are interested in doing compelling and fun things with voice on the Internet.

eHub: What is the greatest challenge to your success?

Slawesome: $

eHub: What is the one thing you need to get to the next phase of the project?

Slawesome: $

eHub: Do you have a business model? If so, what is it?

Slawesome: There a bunch of ways to potentially turn this into a business but I don’t want to go into the details.

eHub: If you’re able to disclose this information, how much traffic or usage do you see on an average day?

Slawesome: I’m surprised at the level of traffic for a site that is really and truly in alpha. It makes me happy.

eHub: What is the one thing you’re most proud of about the project?

Slawesome: People use it! That makes me happy.

eHub: How would you describe the shift that’s occurring with the web right now to future generations?

Slawesome: Costs have come down to a point where it is “easy” to end run around existing businesses that are not giving maximum value to their customers.

eHub: What site(s) do you visit everyday other than your own?

Slawesome: I like Waxy, TechCrunch, Fred Wilson, Paul Kedrosky, Brad Feld, and a bunch more.

eHub: How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Slawesome: ?

Thanks to Nivi and the Slawesome team for this email interview posted October 20, 2005.

Visit Slawesome
Originally added to eHub on Sep 29, 05

» More eHub Interviews

eHub Interviews is a series with the creators of Web 2.0 applications and services by Emily Chang, author of eHub, designer, and co-founder and principal of Ideacodes, a strategic web consultancy in San Francisco that she co-founded with Max Kiesler.

Also see eHub Interviews in Japanese at CNET Japan

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