Five Years of Wow

I'm staring at the blinking cursor on an empty page. This page. And it occurs to me that five years ago today, Skype was that cursor. An impatient speck on the world's radar screen, vying for attention that would help write a new chapter in the history of communication.

With the benefit of five years of hindsight, Skype's success now appears so logical, so natural. As if Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis and their skeleton crew of Estonian programmers had planned it all along.

Hmm. They simply couldn't have predicted where this journey would take them and millions of others - who, among them, have clocked up more than 100 billion Skype-to-Skype minutes. Visionary foresight is one thing. But expecting Skype to have touched close to 350 million users by year five, to have enabled billions of conversations, enriched and even enabled millions of relationships, and along the way to have helped transform one of the largest industries in the world? That would have been downright delusional.

So I can only imagine how the founders must have felt at the point of singularity. Before the Skype universe began. On August 29, 2003.

That universe is still expanding rapidly. And at age 5, we are still only at the very beginning of our journey. With our massive and passionate community of users, our 6 consecutive quarters of profitability, and over $500M annual revenue run-rate, we've got a super-charged platform from which to keep innovating, questioning the status quo, and fighting on behalf of people everywhere to set the world's communications free.

This is a responsibility which I, and all of us at Skype, take to heart. After all, we know history won't judge us on our early success, but on how we build this into a great and enduring legacy.

When I think of the future, I think of Skype as liquid communication. Instead of being condemned to a frozen shape like the telephone, it will flow into any device whenever you want and wherever you are. And, like water can turn into ice or steam, Skype can shift its form to match what you need at the moment: from voice to video to IM to SMS to filesharing.

Skype blurs the line between the real and the virtual. It bends space and cuts through time. Today, when a conversation wants to be had, technology is not the bottleneck. But technology isn't the goal either. There's no question in my mind about what stands at the heart of the communication revolution. So, as we celebrate the first five years of Skype, let's raise a toast to the human desire to connect.

And to the promise of the blinking cursor.

Comments

"...it will flow into any device.." - hmm.. still waiting for that iPhone version of Skype..

Yes I will agree that the product has grown and grown which is great but it is a great pity that the customer care and service has not grown with it, because at this present time it is a total disgrace and as for the Billing and Payment section well I will keep my comment clean other that to say that the whole system and the people who run it ought to be dumped for running such a draconian 18th century system.

You say "let's raise a toast to the human desire to connect" when the company has just decided to remove Skypecasts?

Thank you Skype! You have allowed us - a team of former Cisco/Asterisk/Microsoft LCS/SIP/SS7 developers - to free ourselves from the tyranny of hardware-centric communication solutions. "Look Mom, no dedicated phone network, no on-premise phone system!" Getting rid of the excess tin allows companies to access and embed rich communication solutions into their business processes - all at an industry-redefining cost. The ability to chose, and change, the mode of communication also allows for more effective, and intimate customer relations. Looking forward to the future, and thanks to your team - they have always been there for us.

pssst, Josh, should you ever be looking for a Skype customer service solution, Skype Me!

"With our massive and passionate community of users" - um, perhaps you might want to read the 100+ comments below about closing skypecasts, who might have probably mostly found out only through word of mouth as I cannot see any advertising on skypecats myself (with only 2 days to go!).

"So, as we celebrate the first five years of Skype, let's raise a toast to the human desire to connect." - did you realise that you just stopped skypecasts? Yes? No? If so why are you going to "raise a toast to the human desire to connect" - this statement appears ridiculous?

"There's no question in my mind about what stands at the heart of the communication revolution."

Don't hold your breath for a revolution if communication is at the heart of it. Communication is what's missing at Skype. Maybe it's an eBay thing or maybe it never existed. I've been deluged with rumors that the Skypecasts end tomorrow, but everything on the Skype site - including the sales pitches - tells me it is life as usual. The Heartbeat page, as usual, communicates nothing that this might be fact and since it is a rampant rumor, should have included something to dispel it. Communication is not the strong suit at Skype.

5 years ago Skype was a cursor. Today it is being cursed-out.

There is a lot that is great here and just still being around after 5 years is remarkable. Still, this post feels more like Skype and eBay just laughing at its customers and users. You've been lifting the glass and bending the elbows a little too much and a little too soon. Finish the job before you strain your arms patting yourselves on the back. If you do the job well, there will be plenty of us around to pat you on the back and smother you in attaboys. And not just from weasels that want to work at the company. People that are truly and objectively appreciative.

Oh Belated Happy Birthday Skype! In behalf of my coworkers and friends..thank you for making skype possible. Cheers from philippines! =)

By the way, thanking in return..I posted a blog in my multiply account I love skype!

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