Twilio: Messaging, Margins, and Markets

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[00:02:53] - [First question] - What is Twilio?

[00:03:36] - How the world received text updates before Twilio

[00:04:14] - The scale of Twilio today

[00:05:02] - How expensive designing infrastructure of this magnitude can be

[00:05:34] - How to use Twilio and gain access to its functionality

[00:06:33] - The insight that led to developing the company

[00:08:37] - Other aspects of Twilio’s services beyond SMS

[00:09:50] - Unit economics of the business

[00:12:01] - Case studies of likely and unlikely customers to use Twilio

[00:15:17] - Original use cases and how they’ve evolved since

[00:16:12] - Developer insights and what innovation it’s led to

[00:19:19] - Twilio becoming a pioneer in the user software API space

[00:22:15] - How big the TAM can be and why it’s bigger than people may think it is

[00:23:38] - Why the API data and growth rate of Twilio separates it from its competitors

[00:26:02] - How having a lower gross margin actually works to their benefit

[00:27:28] - Who their competitors are and why Twilio beats them out

[00:29:11] - Strategic acquisitions they’ve made like SendGrid, Segment, and Syniverse

[00:31:18] - Unifying themes in their M&A strategy

[00:32:08] - Fees associated with using iMessage and WhatsApp

[00:32:43] - Improving margins as SMS becomes less pivotal in their operations 

[00:33:21] - Things about Jeff Lawson that makes Twilio so special

[00:35:25] - What’s their bear case is

[00:36:19] - Lessons for builders and investor