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Jeff Lawson

05/24/25

@ a16z speedrun

When I started talking about the Twilio idea, I noticed that developers would initially seem uninterested, but then they would ask questions about potential use cases, indicating a latent need.

Video

No Money, No Support, Just Code: The Twilio Founding Story

@ a16z speedrun

No Money, No Support, Just Code: The Twilio Founding Story

05/24/25

Related Takeaways

Jeff Lawson

05/24/25

@ a16z speedrun

We built the Twilio prototype in about four months, and early customers provided encouragement by building interesting ideas on the platform, validating our direction.

Jeff Lawson

05/24/25

@ a16z speedrun

After receiving positive feedback from potential customers about the Twilio API, I decided to drop everything else and focus on building it full-time.

Jeff Lawson

05/24/25

@ a16z speedrun

In 2008, I struggled to raise funds for Twilio due to the global financial meltdown, and many investors dismissed our developer service idea as foolish.

Dalton Caldwell

07/20/24

@ Y Combinator

When someone asks if their idea is a tarpit, I often start by asking if they've talked to any users, and many say no, which highlights the importance of user feedback.

Mathilde Collin

10/25/18

@ Y Combinator

To gauge if people are willing to pay for a product before it's fully developed, I asked potential users what they would give for access, which led to creative responses.

Jeff Lawson

05/24/25

@ a16z speedrun

Despite not raising significant funds, we decided to launch Twilio on November 20, 2008, and immediately started gaining customers who were willing to pay for our service.

Y Combinator Cast

07/20/24

@ Y Combinator

When asked if an idea is a tarpit, I often suggest talking to users to validate the concept, as many people overlook this crucial step.

Eric Migicovsky

07/26/19

@ Y Combinator

In the idea stage, find your first users by talking to people who have encountered the problem you're trying to solve.

Dalton Caldwell

04/18/24

@ Lenny's Podcast

I tell aspiring founders to talk to customers, but many get quiet when asked how many they've actually spoken to.