David Pierce chats with Eric Migicovsky, Co-founder of Beeper, about the future of messaging. They discuss the concept of a universal messaging app, challenges in building a better chat experience, the power of interoperability, and the collection of user data by messaging services.

YC Partner Eric Migicovsky outlines a framework for asking questions and collecting feedback from your users.

We've cut down the first week of Startup School lectures to be even shorter and combined them into one podcast. First, a lecture from Kevin Hale. Kevin is a YC partner and a cofounder of Wufoo. His lecture is about How to Evaluate Startup Ideas.Then, a lecture from Eric Migicovsky. Eric is a YC partner and the founder of Pebble. His lecture is about How to Talk to Users.Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/***Topics00:00 - Intro00:43 - Kevin Hale on How to Evaluate Startup Ideas2:04 - How can I predict if an investor will like my idea?2:50 - A startup idea is a hypothesis5:44 - Problem6:59 - Solution8:16 - Insight8:57 - Unfair advantages13:45 - Two beliefs about startups15:19 - Eric Migicovsky on How to Talk to Users17:36 - Three common errors people make when talking to users20:20 - Five questions to ask in a user interview20:28 - What's the hardest part about doing the thing you're trying to solve?21:02 - Tell me about the last time that you encountered this problem21:22 - Why was this hard?23:08 - What, if anything, have you done to try to solve this problem?24:10 - What don't you love about the solutions you've already tried?25:21 - Three stages in which talking to users is extremely beneficial26:07 - Idea stage30:40 - Prototype stage33:41 - Iterating towards product market fit

Entrepreneur Eric Migicovsky joins the podcast to discuss Beeper's mission of providing a universal chat app and their fight against Apple's control over messaging. They explore Apple's iMessage lock-in, the limitations of SMS, and the challenges of using non-Apple messaging apps. The conversation also touches on the importance of communication and privacy, the push for interoperability, and the impact of startups on ecosystems. They delve into the monopolies and lack of competition in the market, as well as the reluctance of developers to develop for new platforms. Lastly, they discuss Beeper's features and the launch of the Founder Fridays meetup program.

Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky discusses the universal messaging app, the conflict with Apple, and the power and benefits of open protocols. They explore the use of the Matrix protocol in building Beeper, the advantages of protocols over platforms, the challenges of launching a new chat app, and the importance of decentralization and federated services. They also touch on legal cases, data scraping, personal data ownership, and the future of messaging through decentralized apps and protocols.