Co-founder Shaan Puri announced late last Friday that Blab, a live video chat streaming service launched in early 2015, has been shut down immediately and they are focusing on a new project.
Puri said that in one year, they grew from zero users to 3.9 million and the average user spent over 65 minutes per day on Blab. Those are great numbers, I think, but it still didn’t work out for the company. Why?
What Went Wrong?
#1 – The main reason, Puri said, was that most of the livestreams that happened, sucked. Only 10% of users actually used the app on a regular basis. They hoped that having livestream replays would be the answer, but only 10% of time spent on the app was watching the replays.
#2 – Puri said the second reason that it didn’t work was “a growing divide between two groups of users: 1. People who use Blab as a way to broadcast to an audience, 2. People who use Blab as a place to go hangout with friends.” He cited that those who were broadcasting used it once a week for about two hours, but those hanging out with friends used it 5 to 6 hours every day.
What’s Next for Blab?
At the conclusion of the blog, Puri said that his team is working on building a network for those people who used their app as a place to hang out with friends, building something that works for those who used their app the most.
What Do You Think?
Did you ever use Blab or did you not even know it existed? Are you looking forward to their next iteration of the app? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter at @EdgeWebRadio!
