Mike McCue
Co-Founder and CEO of Flipboard
Discussion
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
Hi - I’m Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Flipboard. I love building teams, products & companies. I’m excited to be here — ask me anything!”
***EDIT
Thanks so much everyone for your GREAT questions. I've loved being here and will continue to respond to a few more questions in the next day or so. Please be sure to send me any thoughts you have about Flipboard (https://twitter.com/mmccue), especially as we gear up for the next edition.
upvotesharetweet・
Aida Boucheron
@aidaofnubia
What is the biggest misconception about Flipboard that you wish to dispel?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@aidaofnubia A lot of people think of Flipboard as just a news reader... This is understandable because we do a lot of news on Flipboard. But Flipboard is so much more than that because of how we enable people (enthusiasts, influencers, bloggers, experts, etc) to curate stories on Flipboard. Curation is the single best thing we do and when users discover this, they get a lot more out of Flipboard than using it purely as a reader.
Aida Boucheron
@aidaofnubia
@mmccue Thank you for highlighting this! Flipboard is a pretty fantastic reader but it really wasn't until I started curating magazines that I realized how empowered and empowering it is. You have an outstanding product here. Proud to be a fan.
Igor Adamenko
@igoradamenko_ · UI-developer at FunBox
Hey Mike! Thanks for this live! How do you see future of Flipboard? What's the next step?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@igoradamenko_ We started Flipboard because we believe in the power of great stories to move the world forward. We spend everyday building a social magazine (I.e. an experience, platform and ecosystem) that enables great stories to be discovered, curated, packaged, presented, and subsidized in a social, mobile world so that parents can be better parents, political leaders can be smarter, citizens can be more enlightened, artists can be more inspired, etc. We want to give people the stories that help them pursue their passion, no matter what that is, from other people who share that same passion. We've never veered from this purpose and we've made a lot of progress. However on a scale of 1-10 (10 being fully achieving our vision) we are only at a 2. We've only just begun.
Igor Adamenko
@igoradamenko_ · UI-developer at FunBox
@mmccue Awesome answer! It's really inspired. Thank you!
Noah Mittman
@noahmittman · sputnik7.com/RESFEST alumnus
How much do you see blogging in the future of Flipboard? I see the app as juggling a very unique mixture of the federation of Medium, the scrapboarding of Tumblr, the watercooler of Twitter and the forwarding of Facebook. Curation is where Flipboard still leads the pack, and would giving louder voices to the curators themselves *within* Flipboard help?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@noahmittman This is a great question. We like the idea of embracing any platform where content and stories are created. We want to be the best place where those stories are hand picked and discovered by fellow enthusiasts, regardless of how or where they were created.
Aida Boucheron
@aidaofnubia
I was thrilled to learn that you will speak about "The Art of Curation" at Cannes Lions! (Voted to get this live streamed online for all.) In your view, what are the qualities of a well-curated Flipboard magazine?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@aidaofnubia Great Flipboard magazines have a point of view that only a person could lend (I.e. Not an algorithm). For example: I love Dusty Boots, Middle East News for the Perplexed, American Poverty, and Artrepreneur.
Neil McHugh
@neil_mchugh
@mmccue @aidaofnubia re the algo comparison, I don't think this is talked about enough, where else can you search for a topic and see "hand picked" news, articles, information, quality is maintained, argument to say a higher quality than an algo would serve.
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@neil_mchugh yes. This blend of people and algorithms is fascinating. Expect to see us do a LOT more with this blend (I.e. algorithms can be great for people to be better curators and to surface like minded curators you didn't know about)
Gijo Mathew
@gijo_mathew · Head of Product
Hi Mike, thanks for doing this. What is your take on all the competition out there today and what process do you go through to figure out how to stand out again in this space?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@gijo_mathew I love getting asked this question as an entrepreneur because it gives me a moment to share a first principle I live by: Stay true to your unique vision while focusing on your users and customers (NOT on your competition).
Tanmay Desai
@tanmaydesai89 · will always go the extra mile.
What is the biggest challenge you foresee going ahead for Flipboard?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@tanmaydesai89 Two major challenges we are focused on: 1) Evolving the product so it becomes the go to place to dive into any passion you have with an emphasis on seeing what others who share that passion are curating and 2) getting to profitability by satisfying the world's best brands
Kazuya Nakamura
@kzynakamura · CEO, qeuep
Hi Mike! I have two questions. 1) When was the first moment when you thought Flipboard will be a hit? 2) What was the most important traction channel at the early stage of Flipboard?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@kzynakamura I think we still have a ways to go to make Flipboard a true hit... I.e. the same level of awareness and adoption that something like Twitter or Snapchat has. We have lots more work to do but I can tell you I am more excited about Flipboard now than I ever have been... By a lot.
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@kzynakamura Regarding your second question: the best thing we did in the early days was bet on the iPad and the tablet form factor before it was even announced. Steve Jobs was very enthusiastic about the fact that we had embraced the vision of the iPad and Apple's early enthusiasm for what we had built really got us off to an amazing start.
Aida Boucheron
@aidaofnubia
Hi, Mike! So excited to be able to chat with you today.
What is the toughest compromise you've ever had to make while building Flipboard?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@aidaofnubia The toughest compromise is always when we should ship vs continue to refine. It gets harder to navigate this as you gain more users. Great product companies are mostly great because they learn how to navigate this compromise every day.
Jeremy Evans
@jeremynevans
Thanks for doing this Mike! Do you see a future for the article as a medium in journalism? Or do you think it'll eventually be replaced by videos, tweets, Snapchats, cards, messenger bots....?
M
Mike McCue
@mmccue · ceo, flipboard
@jeremynevans Yes!! Articles will live on and prosper. Videos, tweets, photos, audio will also continue to rise in importance for journalism but I fully expect that the classic, well thought through written piece will remain the cornerstone.
Jeremy Evans
@jeremynevans
@mmccue Thanks! In that case I wonder whether we'll see more separation between 'thought pieces' and raw information like news, sport, stocks etc?