As a part of a Stanford class, we met Color cofounder Ganesh Ramanarayanan at Color’s Palo Alto office last week. Here are some of his thoughts on what Color is doing now and why working at a startup is like being in a Ph.D. program:
Color’s first launch with the location-based photo sharing product was a bit of a flop.
What did you learn about location-based networks from Color’s first launch? These apps really come into their own when you’re at an event. But it becomes less cool when nothing is around. Bootstrapping them is hard, because it’s difficult to make them make sense for people who are playing with the app when they’re alone at home.
Startups [working on location-based network] need to get people to understand that they’re meant to use this app when people are around–not when they’re alone.
Color’s latest product is an app to share live video broadcasts and photos with friends on Facebook.
What are some of the things Color is working on right now? We need to understand the sweet spot of how long these broadcasts need to be.
Did Color design this product for a specific user? We designed it for a specific-use case. We try to make that case compelling and then test it on the market. It’s more about technology and enabling new things than what do people want.
Should I work for a startup or a big company? Working at Color is like a Ph.D. program in many ways. You don’t know what’s in front of you until you get there. But, if you want to tackle big problems, it’s perfect.
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