9781422277331

Tech 2.0

In September 2007, Koum and Acton left Yahoo! to travel around South America. When they returned from their trip, they both applied for jobs at Facebook, and both were turned down. They were beginning to live off their savings when another lucky event helped plant another idea that would contribute to the founding of WhatsApp. In January 2009, Koum bought an iPhone. While smartphone apps are a ubiquitous part of Ameri- can life today, at the time, the App Store was only seven months old. Looking around at all that the App Store offered—and the rate at which it was growing—Koum realized that apps had the poten- tial to become a booming market. After kicking around some ideas in his head, Koum even- tually talked to his old Russian friend, Alex Fishman, who in turn

WhatsApp’s First Rules D uring the entire pre-stage and development process, Koum had three basic rules that worked into every early version of the app: 1. The service would not carry advertising. 2. The service would not store messages to prevent violation an individual’s privacy (a nod to his upbringing in communist Ukraine). 3. The service would focus on delivering a re- liable user experience.

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