With a Great Product, Marquee Investors and Widespread Publicity, Tech Start Up Xobni Seeks to Become the Google of Email

Matt Brezina, age 27, grew up in a small Pennsylvania town and attended Penn State University. Always deeply interested in science and business, he also studied electrical engineering. While at PSU, he worked as a consultant on naval research in robotics, but discovered that he did not have the necessary education for such work. After a professor advised him to attend graduate school to learn more about the field, Matt attended the University of Maryland for his graduate degree, but things took an unexpected turn.

The idea for Xobni (”inbox” spelled backward) came from late-night conversations with his roommate, Adam Smith. Their mutual passion for technology and business led to a partnership. Adam saw how much information emails contain and planned to revolutionize the way people use the system; he wanted Matt to help him build a company around it. In turn, Matt-who did not find graduate school fulfilling-wanted more entrepreneurial experience, and Adam’s plans to start a software company became the perfect fit. He dropped out of school and quickly moved up to Cambridge, MA.

When deciding upon a product, Matt suggests, “Start with a broad space of problems that you should solve.” What he learned from working with business professionals was the amount of time taken up from a lack of organization, noticing that they have a difficult time simultaneously accomplishing tasks and keeping organized. To make their lives easier, Matt and Adam created software that not only organizes email, but generates a profile for each contact, consisting of a picture, previous conversations or emails exchanged, mutual contacts and other data collected from the Internet. The product is fun and can save up to 30 minutes a day in mindless searches through one’s inbox. Statistically, email is one of the Web’s biggest uses; the partners knew this could become a huge success because the market is so large. To tackle such an ambitious project they needed funding.

Building their company took time. “Take every meeting you can; you don’t know where it will lead,” says Matt. He learned that it takes many lunches and introductions to find an investor willing to take a chance. After going through the highly-touted Y-combinator boot camp,  Xobni’s jumping-off point arrived when a fellow entrepreneur arranged a meeting for Matt and Adam with a prospective investor, which led to a dinner invitation and Xobni’s initial funding. “The reality is that most milestones in a company’s history are defined by the money,” he acknowledges. With the initial venture capital raised, they were able to hire a seven-man software-development team. Dedicated to their cause, the team literally lived in the office, even buying air mattresses for nights when they worked straight through.

When deciding on Xobni’s flagship product, Matt and team immediately flocked to Microsoft Outlook, the most widely used email system by business professionals that had substantial room for improvement. Advice Matt’s father had given him came to the fore: “The best thing to do is go learn from another business, see where they’re making mistakes, see how you can do it better, then jump off and compete with them.” The team built nearly all of the technology in-house before coming up with a rough working prototype. The idea was to slowly integrate the product into public use by first testing it with a limited group of users. Approximately 30,000 were allowed access to the software and able to return feedback, which the team implemented before launching it on a wider scale. Matt advises all young companies building technologies, “Product launch cycles and version-testing timelines are extremely important. You must create a well-thought out timeline and stick to it as much as possible.” He also mentions that “many companies do not believe their products are ready to launch so they will iterate, iterate and iterate. You cannot be afraid to fail, so do not wait too long to pull the trigger with a product launch.”

Matt is exceptionally proud of everyone who helped develop the software, as well as those who use it. One of his keys to success is finding low-cost ways to both develop and market a product. When looking for ways to improve, Matt recommends going to public places such as bus stops or coffee shops, and showing people mockups of your business model to test the product. Asking if they understand the model and like your idea is an easy and relatively cheap way to research, and can provide ideas for improvement. One of the biggest problems Matt recognizes in new entrepreneurs is managing finances; once they earn a little money, they immediately go out and buy something expensive like a car. His advice is to save money and not attach importance to material things, another key consideration for entrepreneurs looking to ensure business startup success.

Matt doesn’t sweat the fact that Xobni is not currently generating revenue. “It’s all part of the plan.” When asked his goal for Xobni, he returns a calm and cool response. “We want to become the Google of email.”

You know what we say to you Matt? OD TI!

… that’s Do It backwards.