We picked up from Whatsapp's few shortcomings: Deepak Ravindran

Deepak Ravindran, founder, Lookup, a messaging app

Claim to fame

A college dropout who became famous for starting up the SMZ-based search engine Innoz

The lesson

WhatsApp and Facebook are our biggest competitors. We have drawn inspiration from WhatsApp, learning from its enormity and reach across the globe. However, it has a few shortcomings when it comes to its privacy concerns. It is not the best medium for business to business and business to consumer communications as it encroaches upon the privacy of both parties. This is what we feel was our biggest learning from WhatsApp. And we decided to bridge this gap by coming up with the idea of Lookup, which focuses on a communication system between a local business and its customer directly without having to share any confidential data such as phone numbers or pictures. It's always great to observe your top competitors and see where they stop, so that you can carry on from there.

(As told to Rajiv Singh)