Interview with Skype CEO Josh Silverman

By Villu Arak on April 21, 2008 in General, Insight, Life at Skype.

This week will mark the first month on the job for Skype CEO Josh Silverman. It may not be as round an anniversary as 100 days, but if you want to find out what's brewing in the mind of the man at the top, Almost Thirty Days On the Job looks like a pretty workable milestone. And it didn't even require an international logistics operation to do this interview -- being able to reel in the CEO to benefit the readers of this blog is one of the perks of an open-plan office here in Tallinn. Enjoy.

Villu Arak: What are your initial observations from the Skype office and Tallinn, your home for the next two months? Has anything surprised you, or is it business as usual among the 300 people that work for Skype in Estonia?

Josh Silverman: My first reaction in Tallinn was, "Holy cow, there's two feet of snow at the end of March!" But I was certainly not fazed by this -- it looked picture-perfect and seemed to bring out more smiles on the streets. Besides, I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I spent my first 17 years shoveling enough snow to fill the Grand Canyon. So bring it on!

What's quite clear is that I'm surrounded by incredibly bright people who have a ton of great ideas about where we can take this business. Where I can perhaps add value is to help us focus us on the “Vital Few” – the (very) few things we’re going to commit to delivering with excellence; as opposed to the “Worthless Many” – the long list of very good ideas which, if we tried to tackle them all, would bring us to our knees. The hard part about prioritization isn’t saying “no” to bad ideas, that’s easy. It’s saying ”no” to the good ones in order to deliver on the truly essential and/or breakthrough projects that really drives focus through an organization.

VA: When your arrival at Skype was announced, you wrote that you want to build the greatest products -- and the greatest company -- on Earth. And you pledged to always have the best interests of the Skype community at heart. What do you think are their core interests that you're treating as sacred territory not to be meddled with?

JS: Besides keeping communication within the Skype cloud free, there are two things we need to deliver very well: incredible ease of use and world-class sound and video. Everything else wins us bonus points. Skype is one of the most innovative companies in the world, and I want to make sure that the focus of that innovation is around making our products 1) even easier to use; 2) even more reliable and high quality; and 3) relevant to everyone everywhere for all their communications. Sure, with 309 million users under the belt today, we need to be thoughtful and weigh our choices carefully. But we're still a young company with plenty of ambition. And we’ll continue to launch innovative new disruptive products, because that is who we are.

VA: Recently, a procurement agent for a high school in Portugal contacted us through the Skype website, seeking to buy a refrigerator for their laboratory. I didn't know we've expanded into that business, but beyond what you've outlined above, what are Skype's priorities in 2008 and beyond?

JS: Well, since Estonia got a whole winter's worth of snow a few weeks ago, we thought we'd make a quick buck selling it to less fortunate countries. The fridge is just a preservative, it's the snow inside that counts. But seriously, this year we'll make video -- including multiparty video -- more prominent and, er, easier to use. But more generally, I talk about end-to-end ease of use. It goes far beyond making the green call button easier to find. We're looking at every aspect, every stage of the user journey. From when you download the client and make your first call, all the way through the range of products we have, from the desktop to mobile. We’re going to focus on where the biggest pain-points are along that journey, in order to make the whole experience seamless and delightfully easy. If we do it right, we'll be relevant to more people more often.

VA: Where does today’s announcement of the new calling subscriptions fit in the ease-of-use department?

JS: That's right, we've just announced unlimited long-distance calling to over a third of the world's population. For those who haven’t heard about it yet, you can basically make worry-free calls any time of the day and not be tied down by a long term contract – or high cost. You only pay a flat-rate monthly fee and you can make calls to landlines in the country of your choice to up to 34 destination countries worldwide. While these subscriptions are a great value, the main thrust was actually to make it even easier for people – not worrying about keeping the clock ticking while talking with your girlfriend in Prague, or running out of credit and having to recharge the account.

VA: As CEO of Evite eight years ago, you told Fast Company that you questioned the value of focusing on today, as it makes you lose sight of what's important. Do you still think that addressing today's issues is reactive management? Surely you've noticed some warts here and there -- what are the existing things that you'd like to fix?

JS: I think my views have evolved and aren't as black and white any more. One of the key skills of the CEO is to zoom in and zoom out. At 10am, you should be able to have a conversation on where things are going 5-10 years from now, followed by a switch at 11am to a discussion about what's shipping next week. We're playing an important role in helping shape one of the key global industries. So having an eye on the next 5-10 years is really important. At the same time there are some pressing issues we have to address today. Ok, so we’ve made it possible for more than 100 billion minutes in Skype-to-Skype conversations to happen, and it’s a major milestone. We’ve helped make video calls mainstream, with about a quarter of Skype-to-Skype calls using video. But it’s not just about milestones. At the top of my "now" agenda is this: radical ease of use. Skype still confuses some people, so we're digging even deeper to achieve step function change. But let me get through the first hundred days and let's take stock of our progress in the summer.

VA: There are a lot of developers out there that are developing third-party applications that expand Skype’s functionality. What can this developer community expect from you?

JS: Philosophically speaking, I do think we need to continue building a robust ecosystem and supporting the developer community as best we can. I'm taking a little time to understand where we are and what the next steps should be. Soon, I'll share more thoughts on this on the Skype Developer Zone blog.

VA: And last but not least -- a recent story in the Financial Times implied that eBay could sell Skype this year. What’s your take on this?

JS: Skype is a strong, profitable business with 61% year-on-year revenue growth and 309 million registered users, with 33 million added in Q1 2008. eBay has just made a huge investment in Skype by removing the earn-out. We have new management in place, and with the earnout out of the way, we measure ourselves by our ability to delight our users. That's our focus. That's our test.

View blog reactions

Comments

Looks like the CEO has a real good head on his shoulders... maintain laserlike focus on further innovating your core competencies (sound + video + good UI), and get rid of the pain-points, big and small. Solid!

Suggestion: employ a multidisciplinary team to get a fresh look at current usability ("in the field"), then transfer the insight gained to the Tallinn engineers for efficient user-centered design.

Related to your last question in the interview, here is why i think the synergies have not been realized yet:
http://www.ilocus.com/2008/04/a_telco_acquisition_could_make.html

Skype really helps all small businesses and owners. Thanks.
Nithya.
Ameriplan business Owner

I'm frustrated with Skype. Whats the point of buying your own number if you cant turn on caller identification?

fasıl meyhane

This probably will not get approved by GOD. I would like to thank you for stealing $11.00 from my account via your sorry expiration scheme. In the US when you pay for something you get to use it, I guess you guys think different. I intend to tell all my contacts not to do business with skype due to your policy and due to the impossibility to send an email to anyone that gives a damn. I realize that you will censor the comment - as they do in communist countries - but at least I have had my say. As your the $11.00 - you figure out where to shove it!

Hello
My name is Xeno. I am a brand spanking new skype user. I was surprised that Josh Silverman and I went to the same University and that in his profile message he writes that he has to make sure that "we all row in the same direction."
I will be using skype to coach people in rowing...
Good luck with everything,
Xeno, Brown '95, new SKYPE fan, Olympic gold and silver medalist in men's single scull

We are very happy with Skype, and we're looking forward to the multiparty conferencing!

Hi Based on the premise if you want something done start at the top would you please DO SOMETHING about the lack of support for SKYPE
I have been trying to get someone from the support department to solve my #940* problem since May 20 2008. You advertise a 24 - 48 turnaround!!!!!

The support reference number is Re: GQW: Unable to log on >

I have replied with the requested information more than once but I stll cannot sign onto my rogerjfarrell account.

When I search on this account name it appears as a valid account
When I search on my email address [rjfarr@attglobal.net] it links to my Skype account, BUT STILL I AM NOT ABLE TO LOGON

PLEASE HELP ME and those others who are in a similar situation.
See the results of searching you web site for infoamtion on this error - #940*

Regards Roger Farrell

Mr. Silverman

I’ve been an extremely satisfied “paying” customer for several years. When I went to renew my current Skypein and Skype out plan I became a very unsatisfied customer.

I spent 30 minutes searching trying to find how to simply renew what has been working. I finally gave up and chose to not renew my SkypeIn plan because of how you have chosen to make this so difficult with things like “Subscriptions” the “Business Control Panel”, “Pay by the Month”, “Skype Pro”.

It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than Skype-In, Skype-Out or Free Skype-To-Skype.

For help leading Skype in the proper direction, take a thorough read through Seth Godwin’s blog http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/ His writings might help you and your employees get their heads around the notion that “Less is really more”. At this point, the Skype web site has turned into a disaster to navigate.

Because of this, it cost your company somewhere between 30 and 60 US dollars.

In the words of that famous American philosopher Dr. Phil, how’s that working for you?

Mark Poole

Dear "Skype",

I would like to say that using the "My Account" area of the web site is totally... well... un-usable. It's poor desing, gives you a headake just for a simple task like extending your subscription. Links send you to the wrong place, so you have to come back, and for a task that should take 5 minutes, it takes you one hour if you are lucky. Dear CEO, get your act together and put the links and buttons in the right place where they are supposed to be. Make yourself a new account and impersonate a user. Try to do what users have to do to use Skype and you will understand what I am talking about. And how about some easy and clear way to contact your customer service, which is the basic of any company doing business with customers (at least give us an e-mail addres FGS). I'm very upset.

Thank you.
A.B.

i am in kuwait, and we would like to resell skype pre paid international calling cards, how can we do it, there is big market in kuwait

talal

i am in kuwait, and we would like to resell skype pre paid international calling cards, how can we do it, there is big market in kuwait

talal

PLEASE READ ALL MY EMAIL AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY, I KNOW WHAT I PURCHASED AND WERE I SPENT IT........;BEFORE ALL THIS CRAP TOOK PLACE, I HADE A BALANCE OF $0.01 DOLLARS IN MY ACCOUNT FOR THE LONGEST TIME, ON JUNE 21st I TRANSFERRED A TOTAL OF $40.00 DOLLARS TO COVER THE RENEWAL OF MY SKYPE PRO SUBSCRIPTION WHICH WAS AVAILABLE TO DO SO FOR ANOTHER YEAR ON MY ACCOUNT DETAILS ON THE 19th OF JUNE, I DID THIS BECAUSE PAYPAL WAS NOT SET UP CORRECTLY,( I'M NOT STUPID OK, I DO READ AND VERY CAREFULLY AT THAT). AS STATED IN THE DETAILS AT THAT TIME (When there is enough Skype Credit available in your account this subscription will be automatically activated) IT DID NOT ACTIVATE PERIOD. THE IDEA WAS TO COVER THE COST OF THE RENEWAL $36.00 AND HAVE A BALANCE OF $4.00 DOLLARS PLUS THE $12.00 DOLLAR I WOULD GET FOR RENEWING SKYPE PRO TO MAKE CALLS TO VENEZUELA ON MY SKYPE TO GO NUMBER THAT WAS WORKING FINE AS OF THE 6 OF JUNE. SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT MATH YOU DID TO COME UP WITH A BALANCE OF $28.01 DOLLAR.

AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SKYPE IN SUBSCRIPTION I HADE TO THE 3 OF JULY FOR IT TO EXPIRE?
WHO CANCELLED MY SKYPE PRO ACCOUNT?

BENJAMIN I WOULD LIKE MY TICKET TO BE ESCALATED TO A SUPERVISOR, I WANT SOME ONE THAT CAN MAKE A DECISION ON THE SPOT REGARDING MY CONCERNS AND MY VALID COMPLAINTS REGARDING MY ACCOUNT, SOME ONE THAT DOESN'T TAKE SO LONG TO RESPOND A SIMPLE REQUEST, SOMEONE THAT ADDRESSES EVERY QUESTION IN MY EMAILS. I WILL HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO DROP SKYPE ALL TOGETHER, THIS IS MY LAST EMAIL TO HELPDESK, SUPPORT OR TO SKYPE IN GENERAL.

I'M PISSED, I'M VERY PISSED OFF. I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING....................

saljav

My credit has expired also which shouldn't be legal it is money that they are taking for giving no service.
I wonder if my bank would like it if I took a loan from them and then told them it had expired and they couldn't get it back.
What is the world coming to when money is though of in this way and can become expired I don't think it is fair.

Dear Skype CEO Josh Silverman,

Yes, Skype needs to listening customers!

I really agree with you, and I hope that you improve this.

But, why is so difficult to contact Skype support?

Skype support is the worst support than I already contacted.

It's not easy to contact Skype support through webpage.

Skype support does not have an e-mail.

Skype support does not have a phone number.

Skype support does not have a skype number.

Skype support does not have a chat online.

I live in Salvador (Brazil). I use Skype to contact my friends who have Skype in their computers.

Next september, I will travel outside my country, and I would like to use Skype to make and receive phone calls.

I have some questions about Skype, and I can't found all the answers in the Skype help webpage.

I sent 4 times in 15 days the same message to the skype support in portuguese. I still didn't receive any message from portuguese support.

So I translate this message to english, and sent 3 times to the english support, and again I still didn't receive any message from english support.

It's unbelievable that we need to send questions through this blog and Skype foruns, because the skype support does not work!

Why Skype support only has this way to contact http://support.skype.com/?_a=tickets&_m=submit ?

Why Skype support does not have an e-mail?

Why Skype support does not have a phone number?

Why Skype support does not have a skype number?

Why Skype support does not have a chat online?

Why is so difficult to contact and receive an answer from Skype support?

As a global company, why Skype does not have representative offices in some countries around the world?

I will wait that you can change this!

Regards,

Uxio
Email - uxio69@hotmail.com
Skype - uxio69

PS: I know that my english is not very good, and excuse me for some english mistakes, but I think you can understand my message. Thanks!

I join the frustrated soon to be ex customers of Skype. The lack of ability to dialogue is unacceptable. Three weeks same statements that dont address the issues. No alternative method of contact. Ok I have been ripped of for ten bucks. But bet I can cost Skype 500 times that in bad publicity.

My skype username is fhharris

I have just spent 2.5 hours going in circles on your web site attempting to renew my Skypein Subscription...all to no avail. This really needs to be fixed. If you do not provide a better product ...your customers will go to your competitors....and you will go out of business...which is what you deserve for such poor support.

If you're taking people's money then you need to give support.

Without giving live support it makes one wonder about the business ethics going on here, especially since this is suppose to be a free/cheap service, but obviously not free and cheap enough for the company to use their own service to offer live support?

I don't know about the rest of you out there, but that is one hell of a lame business model going on here, 'Free & Cheap For Everyone, But Not Free Enough or Cheap Enough For Us To Give You Support'

Whoever is running this company really needs to reconsider their strategy, because if you can't see the stupidity here, then this company doesn't deserve to exist, because if it's good enough for the world to use, and tell us about it, then it's good enough for you to use, and SWALLOW your own words and use your own service and put some phone lines up for support...

Interview with Skype CEO Josh Silverman

Comments

Comment on this post