Stephen Stokols, CEO, FreedomPop -TWiST #321

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On today's episode of This Week in Startups, Jason Calacanis sits down with Stephen Stokols, CEO of FreedomPop. Stay tuned to find out why AT&T and Verizon should be terrified of these guys. They're are offering 4G speeds for free up to 500MB, after that costs are less than 50% of the big guys. They are a game changer, stay tuned!

Read the full transcript

0:30 Today on the program we have the CEO of FreedomPop to talk about how they are disrupting mobile
4:45 We're doing another TWiST Live at RocketSpace with Dave McClure on February 8
7:30 Let's thank our friends at Igloo for sponsoring the program. Save 10% by going to igloosoftware.com/thisweekin and enter to get a chance to win on iPad mini
9:40 What does it cost someone to use an iPhone over two years
10:00 Explain to me why it is that carriers can get away with this crazy pricing?
11:00 What are Verizon's or ATT's margins on data?
11:55 How are you disrupting?
12:15 How do I get ½ a gig free each month?
13:00 How much does the device cost?
13:55 How much do you cost in comparison to the big guys?
14:10 What network are you actually on?
14:45 Are these networks going to be comparative to ATT or Verizon?
15:30 So you could use an old iPhone and only pay $20 per month?
16:10 Does this terrify ATT and Verizon?
16:30 Are these guys going to try and kill you? Have they already started to try?
16:50 What kind of margin does FreedomPop have?
17:15 Do you think you can scale this because you won't have customer acquisition costs?
18:00 Is it possible that you could make enough money through another method other than people paying you in cash?
19:30 What is your background? Where did you come up with this crazy idea?
21:45 Let's thank our good friends at Citrix ShareFile. Visit sharefile, click on the microphone and enter TWiST for a free 30 Day Trial
27:00 Explain WiMax versus 4G?
28:30 What about the latency issue?
30:20 How does it connect to the iPod?
31:45 Have you been sued yet?
32:00 Approximately how many devices do you have in the market?
32:20 How much funding have you raised thus far?
33:25 How long have you been around?
33:45 What has the reaction been from users?
34:45 Tell me about your Clearwire partnership?
38:55 Why hasn't WiFi taken off yet?
39:50 How do you get FreedomPop to explode?
40:45 What are wholesale prices like?
42:15 So you think you could have you own devices with your connectivity embedded in it?
42:45 Will it ever be to the point where internet will be available everywhere?
43:00 Why hasn't Google given you $50M?
45:10 What are your conversion rates like?
46:15 Will you sell? What is success for you?
47:30 Will the hardware ever be so cheap you could give it away for free?
48:50 When did you know that this was going to work?
50:00 Do you have users abusing the system by purchasing 3 different units?
51:25 Pre-launch, how confident were you this was going to work?
52:00 What about internationally, could it be a possibility in China?
52:50 Why hasn't the shared WiFi taken off?
53:15 Explain what Fon is to the audience?
55:40 What about cars?
56:00 What is the problem with internet and cars?
57:00 What is your upcoming investment strategy?
63:20 So are you guys sold out of product right now?
64:00 When is the FCC approving the iPhone case?
69:15 Stephen I wish you a ton of luck with FreedomPop, I'm betting this is a billion dollar co. in 3 years!
64:45 Thanks to Citrix ShareFile and Igloo Software, we'll see you next time in TWiST

Full Transcript

Follow On Twitter

Jason: @jason
Stephen: @stokols
ShareFile: @sharefile
Igloo: @igloosoftware

Special thanks to the members of the TWiST Backchannel Program!

Executive Producers

• Louis-Eric Simard
• Benjamin Gifford
• Jacek Artymiak
• Octavian Mihai
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