Danny Boice Speeks Up

Danny Boice is the Founder and CTO of Speek, a startup “dedicated to bringing you super simple conference calling with no dial-ins, pins or downloads.”  I started using Speek last summer, just a few months before meeting Danny.  I’m still using – and loving – it today.  So I was excited to have the chance to catch up with Danny on some big news in his world.  Here’s more:

CALinnovates’ Mike Montgomery:   Congratulations on the big Series A raise.  $5.1 million is a lot of cash.  What's your valuation?

Speek’s Danny Boice:  Easily over $100 million (with a chuckle).  Oh wait, do you mean to ask what I think Speek is worth or what the VC's tell me it’s worth?

  MM:  Now that fundraising is done for the moment, it's back to business for you.   Are there any new features on the horizon that will blow our minds?

DB:  Always! So our number one focus is to distribute our Speek for Teams offering.  This is the b2b version of Speek that we sell to businesses rather than individual users.  Most of our new features that we roll out will be to further enhance Speek for Teams.  You'll see features such as centralized admin for companies, data integrations with products that businesses today tend to use like Salesforce, and also new collaboration features.   We'll be dropping tons of new stuff.

MM:  While it appears you were able to mostly raise this big round locally, did you find distance from Silicon Valley to be a factor?  Does SV's stamp of approval feel like a necessary component in the process or do you feel that startups can be successful anywhere in the world no matter where they’re located?

DB:  I vacillate on whether it was a factor or not.  I've been told that given our product and team that we'd have been able to raise faster in the valley.  I've also heard the opposite.  Our very first investor was actually 500 Startups, based in Mountain View.  The team at 500 - from partners to mentors to fellow portfolio companies - has been extremely helpful to Speek since the very beginning.  I feel strongly that it is easier than ever before to be successful as a startup anywhere in the world.

MM:  It seems the world is embracing mobile and VoIP in a big way.  As consumer needs morph and innovators like yourself deliver the next big thing, what are your thoughts on the transition to all-IP communications networks?

DB:  I will call it right now - within our lifetime we will see phone numbers die completely.  It could even happen in the next decade.  To me the most beautiful part of all-IP communications networks is the user experience.   You click on names and/or faces rather than dialing phone numbers.  This is possible from literally any platform anywhere - browsers, smartphone apps, TV widgets, connected car apps - you name it.  This belief is at the heart of why Speek went all-in on our personal link concept.  With Speek, you use a simple link (mine is speek.com/danny) or even just a name (enter "danny" on our iPhone app) to do calls.  There is absolutely no need for phone numbers.

MM:  It would seem that these upgraded networks would be good for Speek, right?  

DB:  Hell yes they are.  If you're using a software VoIP client or WebRTC in the browser and have decent bandwidth then the quality of your audio is going to be way, way, way better.  Not to mention the advent of HD voice which makes the audio quality and experience even better.  It's apples and oranges.

MM:  Can you tell me more about high definition voice?

DB:  Speek is fanatical about providing a great user experience to our customers - especially as it pertains to audio.  Most people don't realize that on a plain old telephone, whether it be mobile or otherwise, the audio frequency is significantly lower than on VoIP.  This means that given decent bandwidth and horsepower VoIP will typically provide higher audio quality than the telephone network.  HD Voice takes things one step further using wideband technology to provide a deeper clarity and better audio experience.  This will allow Speek to provide an even greater experience to our users from an audio perspective.  This enhanced audio experience lies at the heart of everything Speek is all about - making conference calls fast, easy and super-high quality.

MM:  How will these next-gen networks help Speek thrive in the coming years?

DB:  Speek is uniquely positioned to connect callers from any platform and without the use of phone numbers.  These next-gen networks can not only easily be connected to Speek calls, but they likely will not leverage phone numbers, making calling a single button click experience from anywhere which lies at the heart of the Speek product.

MM:  What's the split between mobile and web traffic for Speek?

DB:  We see approximately 2/3 mobile and 1/3 web.

MM:  Does your product operate equally as well on Wi-Fi and the network?

DB:  It's been interesting to research the few times we have had quality complaints over the years.  9 times out of 10 when a user tells us they experienced an audio issue of some kind it turns out to be due to something outside of our network.

MM:  If you could share one thing with our readers about your product that people probably don't know, what would it be?

DB:  We have a really awesome business offering that lets companies turn their conference calls into a marketing and branding opportunity.  We give the company their own branded sub domain like CALinnovates.speek.com/mike.  When you give this link out, the people you invite to your call will see the CALinnovates logo, colors, links to your website, Facebook and twitter.  You can now use all of those hours of conference calls into a chance to extend your brand and further market your business.  Not to mention that fact that we grab all kinds of data around who you do calls with, what % your staff talks on the call and much, much more so that management can run analytics that you just can't do on old school dial-in and pin conference call systems.

 

MM:  What's the best movie you saw this year?

DB:  So I am a total documentary nerd.  I watch far more documentaries than typical mainstream films.  This is probably why it is so cool to have Ondi Timoner as a friend and Speek advocate - she's a legend!  Speaking of legends, I'd have to say that "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography" was one of my favorite documentaries that I saw this year.  Tony Hawk was the first person I can remember looking up to as a kid and has been an influence most of my life.  Hey, he's from California right?