Thanks for hunting us @bramk!
This is actually our 3rd attempt with a Video Q&A app. The first two apps didn’t go anywhere but we kept iterating and really poured our heart and soul into YAM.
Things really got started when I tried giving my first Reddit AMA (about surviving my plane crash). I thoroughly enjoyed that experience but thought some of the questions are better answered with videos.
Along the way while we experimented with our prototype, we heard about this app called Fenda (an audio Q&A app) that went viral in China. It pioneered a very interesting incentive scheme where users not only get paid for answering questions, but also for asking them.
We really liked their model. So we adopted it, added our own spin on it and we’re super stoked to share our “baby” with the PH community today! (read our backstory on Medium here).
As makers, I guess we all know how tough it can be to build stuff that people will love. And yet we all keep going at it cos of some “true north”. In our case, we kept trying because through YAM we allow stories like this (from an English teacher in Aleppo, Syria) to be told.
Look forward to all your comments/feedback! Stay hungry, stay foolish!
Great work, Michael!
How is your app different than Whale and why would someone choose your app over another video question and answer service?
Thanks!
@chrisharveyesq great question!
Firstly, hats off to the Whale team! I really like what they've made and it's really exciting to have more teams looking into this "video Q&A" space.
While we may seem similar, I think there're some key differences (both use-case as well as feature-level):
1. We focus more on story-telling. We do have some influencers/experts (eg. Cesar Millan aka "Dog Whisperer", Tay Zonday aka "Chocolate Rain Youtuber", etc) on YAM, but what excites us even more is allowing "ordinary folks with extraordinary folks" telling their stories (eg. see this English teacher in Aleppo answer on "What're the conditions of schools in Aleppo": https://api.letsyam.com/answers/...)
2. We allow a "free preview" for first half of every video on YAM as we really want to minimize any "buyer remorse".
3. On YAM, we allow the Asker (and not the Answerer) to offer a private price along with his/her question. We did this for 2 reasons: we want the Answerer to see the full "demand curve" of all questions (sorted by price) and we just didn't like the idea of having each user/Answerer declare a "public price tag".
4. We allow users to "ask themselves a question and answer them". Sounds silly but we think it can be really useful in turning typical Q&A format (which tends to be more passive in that you'll have to wait for Qs before answering) into a "self-publishing platform". Think FAQs or questions you wish more people want to ask you :)
There' a bunch of other differences (eg. square vs vertical videos, ability to ask anonymous question, $0.05 vs ~$0.30 to unlock an answer, etc), but those are more feature-level differences.
@koridhandy u bet! He's the one and only Tay Zonday (of the "Chocolate Rain" fame: ) He's a really nice guy and super down to earth too! Awesome dude all around.
Active in the same space as Justin Kan’s Whale, YAM is an app that gets you paid to answer questions by video.
Unlike Whale where the Answerer sets the asking price, in YAM it’s the Asker who offers a price (could be free as well) along with the question. Then it’s up to the Answerer whether to answer the particular question.
Every video answer has a free preview for the 1st half of the video; and it costs only $0.05 to unlock the rest of the video. @michael_cho can tell you more!
I had the pleasure of trying YAM a few weeks ago and was blown away with the UX, concept, and execution. Michael has built a great product and I'm really excited to see where he takes it. Great work!
@mattmayberry Thanks for the shoutout dude! Really appreciate it! I dig what you guys are doing at Dopamine too! So Dope! Definitely looking to plug into the power of Dopamine into our next version release!
MoMo
Digital Behavioral Design
MoMo
MoMo
MoMo
Dusk
MoMo
Dusk
MoMo
MoMo
Startup Stash
Product Hunt
MoMo
MoMo
Jasmine Energy
MoMo