All three founders of Danger, Andy Rubio, Joe Britt, and Matt Hershenson, came to the Valley in the late 80’s or early 90's where they worked for a series of companies and invariably met and formed relationships with each other. Out of this network, the three men became friends and star...
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At the beginning, the product was an 'internet sponge' that could absorb information from a computer and be carried around on a keychain. As time went on, the idea went through lots of changes to become what the Hiptop is today. Hershenson describes the formation of the product as a cr...
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Danger has developed a low-cost combination device that functions as a phone, and is internet and email compatible, that is marketed to the young and hip. The business model is built around the services sold to wireless carriers so they are able to sell the devices cheaply and then make...
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The success and genius of the Hiptop brand is arguably in its marketing. Danger actually gave carriers the choice of whether to use the Hiptop name and artwork or whether to use their own. Out of 9 carriers, T-Mobile is the only one to have used their own name and, therefore, the Hipto...
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Danger was able to break into the US market by convincing wireless carriers to adopt a fixed rate pricing scheme for the device, which is almost essential in the minds of Americans for using services like AIM and web surfing. The Asian and European markets are further ahead and calls ar...
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T-Mobile realized early on that it was in their best interest that Danger become as successful as possible. Therefore, they did not demand exclusivity and instead were very reasonable in the contract negotiations.
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Danger decided not to enter the wireless cash market. Hershenson explains the importance of focusing on what is essential to the product, and avoiding nonessential sources of competition.
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The product concept was always to build a low-cost device, but what this meant changed greatly as the founders continued to develop more features. The nature of this device morphed from an internet sponge into the much more complex synergized communicator.
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The Hiptop founders designed the product in the way that was the most appealing to them. They had strong convictions about what the product should look like and the things it should do, which were not necessarily the same ideas the carriers had. However, the innovative design won them ...
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The three founders had become bored in their day jobs and were ready to take on something more challenging. Rubio had rented out a little office space in Palo Alto where they converged to collaborate on design work and product development. The idea went through a lot of changes before i...
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Danger’s first customer was Voice Stream, which later was acquired by T-Mobile International. Voice Stream was a small company looking for something innovative to differentiate themselves from the competition. They found that innovation in Hiptop. Danger initially treated them as a par...
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Launching the product with T-Mobile helped get the product out on the market and got others interested in the technology, making it easier for Danger to acquire other partners. Still, it was important for Danger not to be seen as a outsource development shop of T-Mobile and so they took...
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