![]() We treat people the way we would like to be treated. So that’s what we did Nothing.ĭoing nothing is sometimes a strong move. They shouldn’t worry about it being misused. Users shouldn’t have to worry about where their data is being stored. Our goal, we decided, should be to create a safe haven for people to get stuff done. What we would like? The resounding answer was ‘Nothing.’ ‘We should try to protect our users.’ In the end we agreed we would ask ourselves a simple question. We were just trying to get the business off the ground. Should we start looking at who was using the service? Should we investigate their actions? Could we? What sort of data could be gathered? Much of this conversation was driven by the fact we were boot-strapped. At that time, we had only gathered hundreds of thousands - rather than millions - of users. We asked ourselves if we should use more of our collected data to target users. ![]() In general, the market was frantically drawing up infographics to brag about their knowledge. Instagram claimed copyright over imagery. Data architects, analysts, experts were being pumped all over the world by the likes of Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and SAP whilst Facebook was under fire for knowing too much, for claiming the rights to information people had unwittingly offered up. People like the amazingly talented David McCandless were making data sexy.Įvery company bragged about knowing more and more about its users. Its about you and meīack in 2010, we engaged in endless discussions about the use of data. So how did we get to this point? There’s never only a single factor. That’s 19,200 copies of Prince’s Purple Rain per second. At peak times we’re pushing 9GB of data per second around the world. (Note the double ‘a’.) Today the service is built in Ruby on Rails and runs on AWS. When we were first working on the service, the entire platform was built in flash and was running on local servers in Haarlem. Yet the service seems to still be the same. The company is now fifty people instead of five and we’ve added 32 million unique users per month. Six years later, very little has changed. Though people were discussing WeTransfer, no one quite knew the limits of possibility. Users loved that we allowed them to focus on creating rather than worrying about delivery. They were fed up with sign up forms, with the complexity and instability of FTP, with USBs, hard drives, Yousendit. People were getting fed up with the competition. We had no idea these guys would respond with such enthusiasm. We had no idea the business was so recognisable and appreciated. We had no idea the business had such reach. ![]() ‘Hey,’ they summoned the team from the back of the studio to come out. When we said we were from WeTransfer their response was immediate: ‘No fucking way.’ They kindly reciprocated and asked what we did. They were flattered, very polite and friendly. We loved their brand and wanted to show our appreciation. We sheepishly walked inside, met the founders Will Hudson and Alex Bec and told them we were over from Amsterdam. We decided to knock on the door and introduce ourselves. In London, Nalden and I walked past the offices of It’s Nice That, a publication we both respected. One day, early on in the life of WeTransfer, we got a sense of how quickly things were progressing. Others questioned our growth, the business model and our desire to change the online advertising business. Those who made contact with the interface used the service. There was a green built-in bookshelf and only three desks an a semi-moth balled studio flat.Įven back in its embryonic state, all sorts of people recognised WeTransfer was going to be something. It had once been the apartment of an old opera singer. I joined the summer of 2010, WeTransfer was five people gathered in a room - or two rooms - on the second floor of an Amsterdam canal side converted house. Bas was busy already back in 2008 with the concept, Nalden added his flair and the service launched in December 2009. I joined WeTransfer right near the beginning.
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