TextNow is a leading mobile application providing free cellular and phone services to millions of users worldwide. As their Chief Product Officer, Dave Chiang oversees engineering, product, and analytics to help TextNow scale faster. Chiang is helping to improve TextNow’s digital communications platform as the company grows, using his 20+ years of experience developing and launching tech products. His goal is to accelerate future growth by combining the functions of these three teams under one umbrella.
TextNow’s Mission And Value Promise
Chiang and TextNow’s primary mission is to democratize reliable phone service for everyone. TextNow is, as Chiang describes:
“It’s easy to use. It’s free, and you can just receive a call through the app and call someone whether you have WiFi service or not, with a SIM card that costs less than a dollar. In addition, you can message too without a WiFi connection. This service is amazing for someone who may not have a lot of disposable income.”
Chiang further states that the goal is to make sure that people who do not have a disposable income, such as college students, can reach their loved ones. Small businesses, startups, and e-commerce companies can also use this application to provide services or complete internal business tasks.
“It’s a service that I find very much needed. It’s handy in many situations and for different people. In short, it is quite helpful in every scenario. I believe everyone should use TextNow as it helps you connect with your loved ones without credit and internet connection, which is essential, especially in this current time frame that we’re in,” said Chiang
In today’s internet-dominated world, TextNow acts as a modern survival kit that allows people to build a connection anytime, anywhere. People can make electronic payments or buy a package plan covering every service This feature ensures that people will not have to worry about money or have enough mobile balance to make an emergency call.
Transparent and Easy Pricing
Chiang says TextNow has created a transparent price plan that allows everyone to subscribe to the TextNow service easily. He emphasizes, “We believe that a person doesn’t always have to start at a fixed price point to enable all our services. We want people to expect it to be free, really easy to use, and reliable whenever they need it. And if they love the services and want to use them more, they can pay for things like our affordable data add-ons or to get rid of ads. We don’t want to sell something people later reflect on as a waste of money.”
Chiang believes that most companies are missing this perspective, and they are not customizing subscription plans and not offering an attractive starting point to their customers. Therefore, Chiang is bridging this gap to improve TextNow’s sales numbers.
An Opportunity Of A Lifetime
Chiang started his career as a full-stack developer. He has always been a hard worker and gave 100% effort to his career and employers. Later, Chiang became a mentor but did not abandon learning new things and developing his skills. He enrolled in product programs and learned operations monetization. Through these programs, Chiang learned general management skills, servant leadership, and how the proper application of these skills can drive productivity.
Now Chiang is an integral part of the TextNow community, and he is applying his skills to drive momentum for different teams. “I feel like TextNow has allowed me to bring all my skills together across product, engineering, and analytics. It is a tremendous growth opportunity, and it’s hard to find opportunities like TextNow nowadays. I’m grateful to be here.”
The Core Values And Work Culture
The primary mission of TextNow is to democratize phone services such as calling, messaging, and wireless data. However, Chiang says that in addition to achieving this mission, TextNow has made providing a good work culture a priority.
“At TextNow, everyone cares about what we are doing. We promote collaboration and cross-functionality between teams. At the end of the day, we are a small company, and for us, our people come first.”
The accommodating and uplifting culture helps Chiang and his team make bold decisions and accept challenges. He says, “We take on big risks because every employee at TextNow is committed to providing a great experience for people who cannot afford phone service consistently. We have accepted this challenge and do our best to fight this uphill battle because wireless is a tough place that slows progression.”
Mobile products evolve rapidly and consumer products are a tough industry. However, the supportive culture at TextNow keeps Chiang’s and his team’s morale up.
The Complex Architecture
At TextNow, Chiang is working to build calling, messaging, and wireless services for iOS, Android, and web platforms. “There is so much infrastructure and background work to keep up this simple app that it is a tremendous effort. The best way to understand this app’s infrastructure is by using the iceberg analogy,” he says.
Its complex architecture requires extreme expertise to create a platform that offers mobile and wireless services to consumers, especially for free. Chiang is at the center of building this platform and making this complex challenge as simple as possible with his team.
Promoting Transparency
The Covid-19 pandemic has created more challenges for Chiang and his team because now they are working remotely. But Derek Ting, the CEO and co-founder of TextNow, personally guides teams by providing and encouraging transparency. Chiang said, “The transparency helps people keep on top of the changes happening at our company and everyone on the same page when it comes to our priorities.”
TextNow believes that transparency should be evident across all business aspects, including the financial and organizational sides. They think that it is easier to see the direction the company is moving toward with openness between teams.
“Due to transparency between teams, every team can make the right decision for the business whether they are a manager or an individual contributor. These frameworks are why we can make tough decisions and bring positive outcomes,” explains Chiang.
Hiring The Top Talent From Around North America
Since he joined, Chiang has been working remotely with the TextNow community. However, the team-building culture makes it easy for teams to stay connected. TextNow is now hiring across North America to attract top talent.
“Remote work is not an issue as long as we have the right people filling the right roles and executing the right things. I think it is right for the business, and frankly, even before the pandemic came, companies should have been offering remote working.”
However, Chiang believes finding the right talent is very important, a task that has been made more difficult by the pandemic. That is why he and his team are selecting candidates from all over North America. Chiang aims to create a personalized remote working environment for every employee. He thinks that personalization helps workers put the main goals in the front and center.
To explain this, he states, “To increase personalization, we also give our people career coaching and communication training. This helps us improve interoperations and interconnections in virtual meetings.”
Chiang and his team are looking for the best talent across North America and training them to be a perfect part of the company. This is how TextNow is evolving, scaling, and continuing to improve its sales numbers.
“Remote working can be challenging, and I’m still learning new things every day about managing people and teams in a completely distributed workplace. It makes you feel vulnerable because you have to ask for feedback consistently. But TextNow recognizes this and provides various ways to build human connection and human bond to brainstorm and then launch a new product.”
Chiang wants to hire people that are open to taking risks and ready to learn in this new landscape. His focus is on people willing to grow and always prepared to find an opportunity, even in challenging situations. With his gratitude and continued focus on building free virtual channels to connect people, Chiang and TextNow are prepared to exceed expectations.