Chicago Tech Startup: Utellit

-Originally posted on TINC Magazine-

Utellit allows users to personalize their social media posts by recording and sending voice messages instead of text.

TINC: What growth phase is your company in currently?

We are bootstrapped and Pre-A Series.

TINC: Give us your Elevator Pitch.

Utellit is bringing voice back to make social media more personal.  We have become robotic, impersonal and lazy in how we communicate. Instant social messaging – emails, texts, Facebook posts and tweets – dominates the way we interact but what has been lost is the personal touch of a friend’s voice. We are solving that.

TINC: To quote your website, Voice is in. Text is lame. Utellit helps you connect to friends and followers with your voice. Can you tell our readers more about the process and reach of the product or service you provide?

The process is simple – with our iPhone app you record your voice and share it wherever you want in a few clicks. You can send it to your own Facebook wall, to a friend’s Facebook wall, via email, SMS or Twitter. If you receive a utellit and don’t have our iPhone app, you can still listen to the message. If you’re on a mobile device and click a utellit– it opens up an HTML5 audio player. We are creating social voicemail and our reach is everyone who wants to stand out from the crowd and reach people in a personal way.

TINC: What industry would you most closely align your company with?

We align ourselves with the social media industry because we are solving a problem of engagement.  Whether it’s a company that wants speak directly to customers or friends wanting to connect in a more personal way, we are building tools for better engagement.

TINC: How is your product different from the other guys? What makes your company unique to the scene?

Our competitors fall into three camps:  1) mobile podcasting; 2) audio-based social networks and; 3) walkie talkie apps. Walkie Talkie apps allow for real-time device-to-device conversations, but ignore the predominant social communication channels.  Audio-based social networks require users to hang out in a new environment to send voice messages.  Utellit is enhancing the way we already communicate by integrating seamlessly with our favorite channels.  Mobile Podcasting simplifies personal broadcasting for bloggers or podcasters.  Utellit recognizes that not everyone is a podcaster and thus makes it easy for everyone to message with voice on a daily basis.

TINC: How many employees do you have on board right now?

We are a team of 4 that is constantly testing, validating and building awesomeness.

TINC: Who are the founders and CEO’s of your company?

Rishi Khullar is the Founder and CEO.

TINC: When was your company established? What is the official founding date?

Utellit was founded on August 25^th, 2011.

TINC: Tell us about development platforms you may be using, or what you’re coding this in.

The web application is developed using CakePHP with a JSON API calling to the mobile application. While the app is hosted with Rackspace, all files are stored on Amazon S3. The iPhone app was developed natively in Obj. C without using a specific RAD framework.

TINC: What is your technical approach that makes your software better? How are you getting the details right or working in a more optimized way?

For the mobile app, an intuitive and relevant user experience is key. We place emphasis on our internal communications, team interactions, documented use cases through stories and wireframes, and careful consideration of expected real world use. From a technical perspective we have made efforts to optimize upload speed and loading time through file compression, server-side conversion processing, and lightweight JSON messaging. Ultimately, the current mobile app is just one example of how our service will be used. While we will continue to work on development of the app itself, our focus right now is on a more horizontally extensible service through REST and JSON-based APIs.