Have you created a UNC VoiceThread account yet? VoiceThread is a web-based application that “allows users to post media files and then invite others to provide comments in writing, with voice or with video.” ITS Teaching and Learning has partnered with the VoiceThread folks to roll out a UNC VoiceThread pilot.
Andrew Synowiez, a co-founder, graduated from UNC in 2005 with a BS in Computer Science and lives in downtown Durham. Andrew has also spent time at NPR, published photos in Sports Illustrated and USA Today, and digs heliotropism. Andrew took some time away from building a company and studying the diurnal motion of plant parts to answer a few of my questions…
What is your role at VoiceThread?
Something akin to a Chief Aesthetics Officer. I’m responsible for the look and feel (design) of essentially everything people can see and interact with on VoiceThread.
How many active VoiceThread accounts?
Around 100,000 users.
You’re not positioning VoiceThread as a “Web 2.0” application. How come?
Because we fundamentally don’t understand most “Web 2.0” business models which often seem to be based on fantastical exit strategies and market delusions about “new realities.” You should build what you understand and so we’re building VoiceThread’s business like you would a paint store, a restaurant, or even a print magazine. Online business can look and behave so very different from off-line ones, but great businesses are more alike than different. We imagine being a part of our customers lives 5 years from now and work back from there.