WhatsApp | Dhruv Rathee
Dhruv Rathee
WhatsApp's Founding and Early Success
WhatsApp's Business Model Evolution
Facebook's Acquisition of WhatsApp
WhatsApp's Shift to a Free Service
WhatsApp Business API and Revenue Model
WhatsApp Pay and Payment Services
WhatsApp's Future and Data Controversies
WhatsApp's Business Model Evolution
In 2009, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, two former Yahoo!
employees, founded WhatsApp with a simple mission: to provide
a free, reliable, and user-friendly messaging app. The app quickly
gained popularity, and by 2014, it had reached 450 million
monthly active users.
The Early Days: Subscription-Based Model
Initially, WhatsApp adopted a subscription-based model, where
users paid an annual fee of $0.99 to use the service. This
approach allowed the company to generate revenue while
keeping the app free from advertisements.
Quote: "We're not interested in showing ads. We're interested in
making a great product." - Jan Koum, Co-Founder of WhatsApp
The Shift to Free: Data-Driven Decision
In 2016, WhatsApp dropped its subscription fee, making the app
completely free to use. This decision was driven by data, which
showed that many users were unable to pay the annual fee due
to various reasons, such as lack of credit card access or
insufficient funds.