Alex Austin, CEO of Branch, discusses how Google attempted to counter Branch by launching Firebase Dynamic Links at Google I/O.
0:00 / 0:23exact quote · 23.9s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“They launched a product in last year at Google IO that was a direct replica of branch under the Firebase brand called dynamic links, literally copied all of our marketing collateral. I think the variables of their iOS SDK you reused variables from my header file that I had named. So literally a direct knockoff of what we had built.”
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More from Alex Austin
Insight
Enterprise deals closed faster when Branch started charging for its product
“We found that we could actually charge, and when we charge people, it found that enterprise customers actually closed faster than we were giving away for free, and we were making money.”
Alex AustinSep 27, 2017▶ 11:07795: SaaS: With $117m Raised, Google Tried to Kill Him But He's Winning App Deeplinking Wars
AssertionSupported
Austin: Branch lured Pinterest, Airbnb, and Etsy from Yozio, forcing its shutdown
“There was a company in our space when we first started that actually had Pinterest, Airbnb, and Etsy using them. When we had just launched literally brand new, super buggy product within a year and a half, all those companies were using us and that company had…”
Alex AustinSep 27, 2017▶ 20:35795: SaaS: With $117m Raised, Google Tried to Kill Him But He's Winning App Deeplinking Wars
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Austin: Google put 300 sales reps on Firebase Dynamic Links before effort stalled
“Then they threw 300 sales and marketing people at this product with the sole objective of pushing Firebase, deep linking, and replacing branch. So every single one of our customers got an email from somebody at Google. All of our pipeline got it. Like they wen…”
Alex AustinSep 27, 2017▶ 26:46795: SaaS: With $117m Raised, Google Tried to Kill Him But He's Winning App Deeplinking Wars
Disclosure
Austin: Branch aims for 98% app penetration to build mobile search index
“The goal though, is to get 98% of the app ecosystem using branch. Why is that a goal? Because when we have that, we basically indexed the app ecosystem. We built a directory of every page that's accessible inside apps and the analogous, you know, index in the …”
Alex AustinSep 27, 2017▶ 9:02795: SaaS: With $117m Raised, Google Tried to Kill Him But He's Winning App Deeplinking Wars
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Austin: Competition with Google will get much worse when Branch enters discovery
“It's going to get so much worse when we move into discovery.”
Alex AustinSep 27, 2017▶ 27:33795: SaaS: With $117m Raised, Google Tried to Kill Him But He's Winning App Deeplinking Wars
Disclosure
Austin: Kindred hit $500k ARR with 1% monthly growth before Branch pivot
“Basically, I think we got it to be around 500 K a year in revenue, but we were investing most of it back into the business but it wasn't growing. It was growing at like one percent a month or something terrible like that”
Alex AustinSep 27, 2017▶ 7:15795: SaaS: With $117m Raised, Google Tried to Kill Him But He's Winning App Deeplinking Wars
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