I tweet frequently about our portfolio companies’ products. It’s a little shameless and shameful at the same time. I get annoyed when others do it so I don’t know why I still do it. But whatever.
The main reason why one would get annoyed is two-fold. First, there’s an obvious financial self interest in doing it. Second, you don’t know if the person actually likes or even uses the product s/he’s tweeting about. So there’s that.
Having said that, here are a few products built by SV Angel portfolio companies and why I like them and use them every day.
Snapchat
The first app update that I love is Snapchat’s new text feature. I use Snapchat regularly even though I’m of American Beauty age. Communicating with pictures was a fun way to chat (along with Stories, which I like). But by simply swiping right, I can text as well as snap.
The prior two sentences sound like marketing BS. But I’m tired of using so many texting apps. Also I carry two phones so it’s a pain because each phone is tied to a different account on some services. So it’s basically consolidated a lot of the messaging apps for me. I haven’t played with the other features (Presence) as much. But I’ve deleted other messaging apps. I want to use a messaging app that will be around forever. Right now those feel like Snapchat, SMS and WhatsApp. If Snapchat incorporates group chats, then this is the only one I’ll probably use.
I use Evernote a lot. I love the product and the company – I’ve been using it since 2007. But I want something lighter from a feature perspective and something that automatically uploads to Dropbox, another SV Angel portfolio company. I use Evernote primarily for taking notes when taking deal pitches, talking to portfolio founders and partners. I also have syncing problems with Evernote and that’s a hassle when I share deal notes with other partners internally, for example.
I was very skeptical in moving to another service. But Quip (and also Hackpad) fill the buckets for me. It’s also irrefutably a gorgeous app. Because I carry two phones (iPhone and Android), I like that Quip works well on both. I don’t know if it automatically links to my Dropbox but I will check and I will assume that feature will be there shortly.
Again, I use Dropbox and assume I will use it forever. So all my stuff is there – primarily my photos. As a young parent, I’d like some way to have my photos organized and more importantly, easily share it with my parents who are not exactly early adopters. Carousel does this seamlessly. I take more pictures because of this app – I know storage is virtually free and I can capture moments that I can share with my parents who live 3,000 miles away and miss their grandchildren deeply.
I am grossly conflicted in offering these opinions. Having said that, SV Angel is an investor in these companies and thus our success depends on their success. But I use these every day and recommend you check them out.