Chinese messaging app WeChat.
“Now we’re seeing companies here in the U.S. basically using things that China has done months ago, or years ago, in some cases,” Anderson says.
He cites WeChat, which is ubiquitous in China and has expanded beyond messaging to basically become a platform for integrating a host of additional features from other app developers. WeChat allows users to hail a ride, transfer money, buy movie tickets, and more—all from within its app.
Now, U.S. messaging app companies are following in WeChat’s footsteps by adding more features, such as payments and games.
So far, Amino hasn’t made any significant changes to its apps as a result of inspiration from Chinese tech companies, Anderson says. But he still thinks having a presence there is “a massive advantage” and “really helpful in guiding decisions and learning best practices.”
3. Asia is a big opportunity, and China is the beachhead.
Most of Amino’s users are based in the U.S., followed by the U.K., and then China, Anderson says. (He declines to share specific numbers.) He wants to grow Amino’s popularity in Asia, and he thinks it can be done.
“We think of it as a very global opportunity,” Anderson says. “We believe that everybody has something that they care deeply about and want to connect with other people about it.”
First, Amino must overcome the language barrier. Most of the various apps’ content is user-generated, and most of the company’s users speak English. App text generated by the company is also in English.
As a result, “we have a hard time retaining non-English-speaking users right now,” Anderson admits.
It’s a problem the company intends to tackle in the coming months, he says. Possible solutions include translating app headers and other app text into multiple languages; the app would automatically show the text in the user’s native language, based on the phone’s language setting. Other ideas include creating new communities for different groups, such as an anime community for English speakers and another for Japanese speakers, he says.
