This week in our founder’s blog series we had the pleasure to interview Charles Thorburn Co-Founder of Javelin and part of the High-Tech SeedLab batch 2021. The Javelin Team is providing a new video platform where users curate, view and recommend playlists to each other. In the interview, we talked about Charles’ experiences with High-Tech SeedLab, being a founder and the current and upcoming steps for Javelin.
As a Co-Founder of Javelin, what inspired you to start this entrepreneurial journey? Were you sure to become a founder at some point?
My initial inspiration came from the problem around finding and sharing amazing videos on YouTube. I didn’t know this was a problem for other people until my Co-Founder Franziska and I began our research, and realised how far reaching the problem is and that we have a strategy to offer a solution that is not on the market.
You and your team are part of the High-Tech SeedLab accelerator program. Why did you decide to join the program and what did you get out of it for yourself?
It was important for us to join a program that offered the right support and shared our values of sustainability and supporting women in tech. We had amazing advice, workshops, access to expert speakers and a network of support from the beginning, as well as the chance to learn from the other teams — all working on their own amazing projects.
Let’s get to know Javelin better. What makes Javelin different from other video platforms and what are your main goals with it?
Javelin is focused on creating more meaningful and relevant user experiences through human curation and community recommendations. The Algorithms used by Facebook and YouTube hold user attention to sell ads — Javelin works fundamentally differently, in that our customers are viewers and creators, not advertisers.
Since your beta is just starting, do you have a main target audience? Who should know about Javelin and join from the beginning?
Javelin welcomes anyone who loves to share, learn, and engage with independent video content as part of a positive community — we are particularly interested in high quality content and hidden gems that don’t get the opportunity to shine on bigger platforms.
The program is coming to an end this month. What will be the next steps for you and your team?
Our biggest goal is to grow the product, and to begin improving the experience with our users.
Who are you interested in working with and where should people contact if they want to know more about Javelin?
We are always looking to work with people who are excited about video content, the curator economy and humane technology. Anyone can reach out at [email protected]lin.one
Thanks for your time Charles! Let’s end this interview with a motivational quote. What’s the one thing you would say to motivate young and aspiring entrepreneurs?
I am pretty early in my journey to be giving advice, but I would say if you believe in your idea, if you are excited by the prospect of a huge challenge, and think you can make a positive impact then go for it!
