We all take pictures. And share them on social media. We text. We chat. What if we put it all together so that everyone could tell the whole story?
And everyone would get the whole story?
That’s what telller does. It’s an app that you share with friends and family, so that you can all not only share all of the details, but everyone gets the whole story.
In other words, social is finally truly social.
Cofounder and CEO Kate Fedashko tells her side of the story:
Tell us about the product.
Telller is the best way for you and your friends to capture and collect your shared experiences. Invite your friends, combine photos and text, and have fun telling your stories together on your iPhone. In short, we like to see it as the beautiful lovechild of Instagram and WhatsApp – a product that merges the conversations we have around shared experiences, and the content creation that allows us to express them beautifully.
How is it different?
Our stories happen with people around us, but the way we create and share content is always one sided. Telller solves this simple question: if there is more than one side to every story, why are we always telling them alone? Telller makes content creation a collaborative mobile – and truly social – experience.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
Our current market is the +1billion smartphone users worldwide. With focus on the 13-25 year-old demographic who make up over 50% of the market and access social networks through their phones everyday.
What is the business model?
Brands and small businesses are seeking user generated content and native product integration. Telller is a perfect medium for both. We let the people who are using a company’s or brand’s products/ services to endorse what they love through their own stories and interactions. We are moving beyond native advertising to where people’s stories become the endorsement material. In addition, we let brands engage with users on their own terms in a way that is not disruptive or annoying to the users’ experiences, but instead enhances it.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within 6 months?
Within the next six months we have the following milestones:
- Telller 1.0. North America soft launch
- Telller 1.1, including private stories, # and @ search,
- in-app browser, deep links etc. North America,
- European & Russian launch.
- Telller 2.0, with open stories, integration with other services, and partnerships with local businesses
- Telller 2.1: video format implementation
- Telller 2.1:Full web profiles, Android development
If you could be put in touch with one investor in the New York community who would it be and why?
Shana Fisher from Highline Ventures. The way she invests in and guides startups clearly demonstrates a deep understanding of the industry, and a seemingly intuitive insight into future trends and industry development. Also, to be honest, as a company with three female co-founders, it would be great to have her experience from that perspective.
What inspired you to do this? Tell us you’re story!
We would be lying if we said our idea hasn’t evolved tremendously while on this startup journey. But one thing that really brought us (the co-founders) together was the strong desire to build something of our own (founders itch, I’ve heard it called). We realized that mobile content creation is just in its infancy, while at the same time, our networks are getting larger and larger, so the content we are exposed to everyday has becoming overwhelming. We knew there was space in this area for us to carve out and build something great. The fact that we have made it this far continues to inspire us everyday, since coming from Finland and Russia and making it to NYC to launch is a pretty big thing.
Why are you launching in New York?
We knew that we wanted to launch our product in the US and initially we were thinking we would head to the Silicon Valley. Then we felt that the value of our service would come from the stories inside. Specifically, stories which have depth in terms of subject matter, and a diverse user base. While the Valley has its benefits, including networking and mentorship (and funding), but NY has significantly more verticals we can reach into when it comes to lifestyle, entertainment, culture, fashion, etc. That’s where are users are – in those verticals and in this city – so that where we want to be.
