On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2020. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about David ↗
In their words
We've got an iOS app, a web app, we've got a community of around 10,000 people who are using this — saying, what does this look like in three years? And when we realized what it was, it was like an advertising platform.
It doesn't feel right, not the spirit of what we were trying to build. That was definitely a moment where we were concerned, because our energy wouldn't necessarily be where it needed to be for the long term.
We went to our investors and said, we don't want to work on this anymore. That's an important — let's not gloss over that, because that was a really difficult conversation to have.
More from TechTO ×1
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
What is David Hariri known for?
Co-founding Ada with Mike Murchison. Ada automates customer service conversations for companies including Zoom and Verizon, and reached a $1.2 billion valuation in 2021, six years after the two of them abandoned their first product.
Why did they shut down their first company?
Because the only business model left was one they did not want. He told TechTO that with 10,000 people using the app, the honest three-year picture was an advertising platform — and that it did not feel right, or in the spirit of what they were trying to build.
What was that conversation with investors like?
Hard, and he refused to gloss over it. He described going back to the investors who had just funded the company to say the founders no longer wanted to work on it — a conversation he singled out as the difficult part of the story people skip.