Fintech startup offers new way to pay for content
Fintech startup trio, Alexey Feigin, James Jansson and Jordan Rastrick saw a problem with the longevity of financing the online publishing industry and created micropayment system Tapview to "help facilitate the production of quality content online."
CEO, James Jansson, spoke with Industry Moves about how the team develop and sustain their ideas, how he predicts fintech will continue to disrupt the industry and how they got their idea in front of leading Fintech hub, Stone & Chalk.
(pictured left to right: Alexey Feigin, James Jansson and Jordan Rastrick)
"We need to have a level of ubiquity that results in people asking "Do you use Tapview?"" - James Jansson
Q&A with Tapview Co-Founder and CEO James Jansson
What was the igniting spark for the idea of 'Tapview' and can you explain how it works?
I saw a big problem with the publishing industry, especially with news. People were expecting to get their news online, but the only way that news publications were getting money was through advertising. The combination of the influence that advertising has on the reporting of the news, as well as the increasing use of ad blockers, made me feel uncomfortable about the future of news and hence our democracy. At around the same time, Bitcoin was becoming really famous and the concept of low cost micropayments really stuck with me. Tapview is the product of thinking about how you could use existing technology and payment methods to achieve low-cost micropayments to help facilitate the production of quality content online.
How did you get your idea in front of fintech hub Stone & Chalk?
Luck and persistence. I actually attended a Stone and Chalk event in the first month or two of it being open, just before we formally started working on our startup. I jokingly took a photo of the co-working space and sent it to my co-founders, Alexey and Jordan, saying "Is this our new home?" I talked to Alex Scandurra [Stone & Chalk CEO] after the event about joining Stone and Chalk and told him we would be creating a minimum viable product over a few weeks. We went away for a few weeks and made our MVP, then I came back and spoke to Scandurra again, updating him with our progress. We had a short interview in January and then we were accepted as residents. I had to go out of my way to open that connection, and choosing the right person to talk to at the right time was key.
What's the hardest part about developing and sustaining a startup such as this?
The long lead times. The reality of our startup is that it's a good idea, but we rely on publishers to implement Tapview in order for us to have customers. That means that we have to run to their schedules and satisfy their needs. It's a great learning process, but keeping the lights on and maintaining the energy to keep going between coming up with the idea, developing the product then finding someone to implement the product is tough. It is certainly something that people should think about as a risk factor when starting a business-to-business focused startup.
How do you see fintech startups disrupting the finance industry over the next ten years?
I think that fintech will make some important changes to the finance industry and the economy in general. Overwhelming, I believe that the majority of fintech innovation will be startups that will be purchased by large banks, other companies and the government. The banks have already shown their willingness to participate in innovation. This will come in the form of better ways to price financial products and better ways of delivering services. I think that the progress will be incremental, and most people won't realise how quickly we're moving because it will be one step at a time for a long time, in much the same way that incremental scientific advancement goes unnoticed. That said, my prediction is that at least one new major financial product provider will be at the interface with the customer in Australia in 10 years. This may be a totally new provider or a front-end that works with a lot of different financial products. How far we get will depend on regulation. The government plays a careful balancing act between allowing free-form innovation and regulating the financial industry.
"Do things badly...It doesn't mean do a bad job, it means to focus more on the 'do' than the 'do well'." - James Jansson
You have recently partnered with two regional media publications to trial your product with them. What's next?
We want to spread out into more companies. To really take off, we need to have a level of ubiquity that results in people asking "Do you use Tapview?" That is some time away, but we're looking to spread across the larger media companies and also into niche publications that have dedicated followers.
What is it like negotiating with large companies as a three-person team?
You're always going to be holding the weaker hand. Big companies have more employees, more money, more experience, more lawyers and highly respectable people running them. Despite that, companies are filled with people who want to do a good job. I think when dealing with companies, being honest and trying to solve problems for those people and their company is a good way to succeed. I also think it is important to let the companies that you are approaching understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. In this way, you can see where your ambitions align and work together in that area.
How has the collaborative atmosphere of Stone & Chalk facilitated the launch of Tapview compared to going it alone?
Stone and Chalk has been fundamental to our success so far. The team behind Stone and Chalk are industry connected and that has lead to some great introductions. H2 Ventures are also residents of Stone and Chalk and being in the same co-working space certainly had an impact on securing funding from them. Being in the co-working space and talking to people who have similar experiences both with technology and with their company has also been extremely useful. Being able to quickly work out the best way to solve a problem saves valuable time and money.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life/career so far?
I look to a lot of successful startup founders for inspiration. I wouldn't say there is a particular one that I look to, but I do pay attention to the successes and failures of people like Elon Musk who are in that generation of advanced startup entrepreneurs. It's interesting to look at Musk because he was successful early on, however he exited out of Paypal quite early, only taking $165 million for his 12% stake. Today, selling Paypal for $1.5 billion seems ridiculous, but he wanted to kick that goal early. It should also be noted that he almost became "Elon Musk, the former startup founder" as a result of multiple failures that nearly bankrupted Space X. He kept persevering and succeeded, however, and has made a very successful company of Space X as a result of some very big risks he took.
What's the best piece of advice that you have ever received?
"Do things badly". I've heard this many times and am a strong advocate of it. It doesn't mean do a bad job, it means to focus more on the 'do' than the 'do well'. If you do, people are often happier and you achieve more. It's essentially the philosophy of the minimum viable product. The hard bit is working out what counts as "minimum". With a product such as Tapview, it requires a substantial amount of outlay in terms of development, so the team has to keep reminding itself about the goal and what is the best way to achieve that goal as quickly as possible while still delivering on the core promises of the product.
