#chatfe

Check out this great interview we had with Chatfe Co-Founder, Paul Orlando! This awesome service connects you with new people based on your interests. Read on and try out Chatfe. 

Please describe yourself and your role at Chatfe

I'm Paul Orlando, one of the founders and CEO of Chatfe. We all tend to do a lot of things -- I focus on the business side of Chatfe, learning how people are using Chatfe and then taking what we've learned and helping improve the product.

   With most startups, a problem is being solved, what problem was that for Chatfe, and what was the process that you took to solve that problem?  Like some startups we started by thinking: "it would be really cool  if..." when we first decided to work on Chatfe. We saw that more and  more communication was being driven to text. People weren't talking  like they had been. Also, we saw that a lot of typical social  networking makes a popularity contest out of us. People actually think  about how many friends or followers do you have online. We wanted to  get away from all that and let people connect simply because they have  similar passions and without preconceived notions about the other  person.  The process that we took to get there was one where we looked at a  range of "strangers connections" services that were out there and  studied how users behaved. Then, based on what we were learning, we  built a prototype and tested it in the field. Based on early user  observations we went back and made other changes. I think most  startups keep iterating there as they keep learning.  Some people may compare you to chatroulette, what would you say to that?  I don't really mind the comparison, but we are the complete opposite  of Chatroulette. Here's a few reasons why. Average conversation length  on Chatfe: over 8 minutes. Imagine people with an online mentality  stopping to do anything for that long. That long conversation length  tells us people are enjoying Chatfe. (As a comparison, I've been  hearing 5 seconds is average for Chatroulette.)  Another reason. We chose to keep video out of the service. We find  that leaving it as voice only encourages people to have meaningful  talks. We find that Chatfe users treat each other pretty well and take  the time to have a conversation. (As a comparison, on Chatroulette  people have immediate visceral reactions based on the video.)  Another reason. We're the only "strangers connections" service I know  of where gender doesn't matter to people when they communicate. Since  we don't let you choose the gender of the other person, there are  three possible connections: male - female; female - female; and male -  male. There's no significant difference in how long conversations are  in these three groups. (As a comparison, on Chatroulette... well, you  probably already know.)  How do you feel Chatfe will help change the way people network and meet  new people?   We definitely put people on a level playing field and Chatfe users  come away having talked to people they probably would never have met  otherwise. We kind of make talking a game. You don't know who you'll be matched with other than it will be someone interested in the same things as you. Then when your talk ends, both people can vote each other up or down. That way, you build status over time. We'll implement badges or ratings soon.

  After the initial idea of Chatfe, how did you start working on developing, designing, and expanding toward a startup? What were some major obstacles that you had to tackle?

Certainly getting the right people involved was key. Testing assumptions by going out into the field and also letting people try the beta service. Talking to businesses, showing them the benefits and making sure our service was a fit for them. The other major obstacle is that as with all new things, some people need to first experience it before they can really understand it.   Tell us a little bit about who is behind Chatfe, how large is your team, who does development/design etc…?  The core team is Paul Orlando (CEO), Ed Chin (COO) and Steve Wang  (CTO). We also work with a designer, and a couple of other part-time  developers and part-time business/marketing intern.  

Does Chatfe have any plans to monetize, and to date has it received any funding? If so who has already invested and are you seeking more funding?  We have started to monetize our platform already and have sought to  prove ourselves more before seeking funding.

(continued) We've monetized by licensing use of our platform to other businesses. We're in the early stages of looking at other revenue streams. What are your future plans for expanding and making a success out of Chatfe?   We're focused on getting more users and business clients, both of  which are key to our business.

(continued) We're also in the early stages of working on a way to extract value from the conversation data, while preserving user anonymity.

With 2010 being a year of startups, what other startups/services do you use besides your own? We use Woopra to monitor real-time visitors to Chatfe; Twitter; MailChimp...

Do you have any advice for young startup entrepreneurs?   Always ask yourself: what do I need to be doing now? Not what do I want to do or what do I feel like doing, but what does my startup need from me? Don't get discouraged if people don't get it at first. This is normal for anything new. Remember what Ghandi said: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

FROM STARTUPLIST