SayNow

High-Level Overview

SayNow was a Palo Alto-based technology company founded in 2005 that built a social voice platform connecting celebrities, brands, and fans through voice messaging, group calls, and user-to-user conversations.[1][2] It served celebrities like Soulja Boy, broadcasters, and fans, solving the problem of direct, engaging voice interactions via phone numbers integrated with social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Android, and iPhone apps.[1][2][3] The platform enabled revenue through sponsorships in messages and hit milestones like 50 million calls to Soulja Boy's SayNow number, amassing 15 million users before its acquisition by Google in January 2010 for an undisclosed amount after raising $7.5 million from investors including Shasta Ventures, Tugboat Ventures, and Felicis.[1][2]

Origin Story

SayNow was founded in 2005 by Ujjwal Singh and Nikhyl Singhal in Palo Alto, California, at 299 South California Street.[1][2] The idea emerged from exploring "fun and entertaining ways for people to talk with each other" across web, smartphones, and landlines, focusing on voice to build communities.[2] Early traction came from celebrity adoption, such as Soulja Boy's phone number (678-999-8212) featured in his hit single *Kiss Me Through the Phone*, which became the most-called seven-digit number ever with 50 million calls, and integrations with social media plus APIs for developers.[2][3] A pivotal moment was the January 2010 acquisition by Google, where founders joined the Google Voice team to innovate further, with no immediate product plans announced.[1][2][3]

Core Differentiators

• Social Voice Platform: Enabled group calls, voice messaging, and one-on-one chats via simple phone numbers, integrating seamlessly with social networks and mobile apps for broad accessibility.[2][3]
• Celebrity and Brand Engagement: Tools like SayNow Broadcast allowed stars and brands to send sponsored voice messages, fostering fan interaction and revenue—e.g., Soulja Boy's massive call volume.[1][2]
• Developer-Friendly APIs: Opened platform to third-party apps, including business tools like Big Call for easy conference calling on iPhone/Android (later delisted).[3]
• Technical Innovation: Held a granted patent (filed 2007, granted 2010) for "Conditional audio content delivery method and system," spanning telecom, networking, and audio engineering.[1]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

SayNow rode the early 2000s wave of social telephony, blending voice communication with emerging social media at a time when platforms like Facebook and Twitter were exploding alongside smartphone adoption.[2][3] Timing was ideal post-2005, as mobile internet and app ecosystems matured, enabling voice as a "new stream of revenue" for celebrities amid MySpace's peak and Android/iPhone launches.[2] Market forces like demand for authentic fan engagement favored it, influencing the ecosystem by pioneering voice APIs that prefigured modern social audio (e.g., Clubhouse precursors) and feeding into Google's voice tech expansion via Google Voice and Android.[3] Its acquisition accelerated Google's push into unified communications, merging with services for number porting and voicemail.[3]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Post-2010 acquisition, SayNow's tech integrated into Google Voice, likely enhancing features like group messaging and social voice without standalone products emerging publicly.[2][3][4] Looking ahead from 2025, its legacy endures in Google's communication stack—e.g., RCS, Duo/Meet evolutions, and AI voice tools—amid trends like conversational AI and WebRTC. Influence may evolve through subtle contributions to Google's ecosystem dominance in voice AI, as social audio rebounds with podcasts and live streams, tying back to SayNow's original hook of voice-powered celebrity-fan bonds now scaled globally.[1][2]