MARTIN OMANDER: Hello.
My name is Martin Omander, and I welcome you
to "Google Root Access," the show featuring
actionable startup advice.
My guest today is Jakob Berglund from the startup Unified
Intents.
Jakob, tell us a bit about your startup.
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
So we have created an app called Unified Remote that basically
turns your smartphone into a universal remote
for your computer.
So we support Linux, Windows, and Mac.
And we give you remote controls for different programs
on your computer.
So VLC, Spotify, iTunes.
And we also allow users to create their own applications.
So you can basically control anything
you like on your computer from Unified Remote.
MARTIN OMANDER: Ah.
So you're sitting in the couch, and just pull out your phone,
and you control what music plays on your computer.
JAKOB BERGLUND: Exactly, yeah.
MARTIN OMANDER: Yeah.
I see.
So in the last episode, I spoke with your co-founder, Philip,
and we spoke about business stuff.
Let's talk about technology this time around.
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
MARTIN OMANDER: Yeah.
I'm an engineer.
I love talking about technology.
You're an engineer, too, right?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
Exactly.
MARTIN OMANDER: Great.
So I went to the Play Store and noticed
that you have 3 million downloads.
Quite impressive.
How did you get there?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
Basically, we started early.
So we were a couple of months into Android was released,
we released our app.
And that, of course, gave us a big boost,
because we got all the media attention
and because no one else was on the store.
So no one else was written about.
So every new cool app was written quite a lot about.
And we also always listen to our customers as much as possible.
So for support or Google Analytics
or different kind of media.
MARTIN OMANDER: Mm.
Right.
So now Android has been around for a little while.
What kind of new technologies are you looking into now
to get that sort of media boost again?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
So we always look for new, cool technologies.
You can't support everything, but you
have to pick the best ones.
And right now, we're looking to Android Wear, of course.
But also other wearable technologies,
like Apple smart watch and--
MARTIN OMANDER: Mm.
That would be pretty cool.
You can sit on the couch and control what music is playing,
or movie is playing, on your watch.
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
Because we want to make the remote
control as useful, or as close to you as possible.
You should not have to look for your remote.
So on your wrist, you will probably not lose your wrist.
MARTIN OMANDER: Ah, right.
And you get that media hit again from being among the first
on a new platform.
Sounds like.
Yeah.
So your app, I looked at it.
It contains many different remote controls inside it,
plug-ins for controlling Spotify and VLC and so on.
How do you decide which pieces of software
to support within your app?
There's an infinite number of apps out there.
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah, obviously.
So we started, of course, with the big ones
like VLC or Spotify.
But then we listened to our customers, of course.
And they requested quite a lot of different applications.
So we started adding them.
And then we started looking through Analytics
for which remotes were used the most,
and try to find similar remotes, but also
improve some remotes that we see,
OK, this is not used that much.
Or this is really used, so we have a lot of uses there.
Perhaps we should put even more attention to that one.
Or that one is not used too much,
so perhaps there is something wrong with it.
And then we reduce to that one.
MARTIN OMANDER: Right.
So you say Analytics.
What analytics are you looking at?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah, Google Analytics.
So we look at which countries are people coming from?
But also which remotes are most used?
Which buttons are most used in those remotes?
And as much information as we can gain,
we try to use just to make it as useful or as smooth
as possible for users to use.
MARTIN OMANDER: So this is the normal Google Analytics
that you might install on your website?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
It's the same thing, but it's a different SDK.
So just put in a JAR file in your application,
and add some code.
There's a great guide at Google, of course.
So you can just add it.
It's almost drag and drop.
MARTIN OMANDER: Ah, right.
Oh, so you just imported your file in your Android project,
and then you have access?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
Exactly.
So you add some small piece of code, and everything works.
MARTIN OMANDER: Ah, right.
Are there any other insights you get from Google Analytics
like how people find the application,
or geography, or anything else?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
Because we have a server version, or a server
part of our software, we have a website people have to use.
You have to get that server.
And then we see from which countries or from which
links that people are going to our website.
So we get quite a lot of traffic there, and that, of course,
helps us also to-- oh, that website has written about us.
Perhaps we could boost that by just putting it
on Facebook or whatever.
So we always look for all kind of data
to find interesting parts.
MARTIN OMANDER: Mm.
Right.
Great.
So finally, what would your advice
be to a mobile startup starting today,
when it comes to new technology platforms and analytics?
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah.
Pretty much, start as soon as possible.
You have to be first on market.
If you're first on market, you will get the media attention.
But also, of course, listen to your customers
and try to understand what your customer needs.
And Google Analytics is one way of doing that.
Of course, support and other social media is also useful.
MARTIN OMANDER: Right.
Great.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, Jakob.
JAKOB BERGLUND: Yeah, thank you.
MARTIN OMANDER: Hopefully, you found something useful there
that you can use in your startup.
If you have comments on the show,
please enter them in the YouTube Comments section.
We read everything you write.
And finally, if you are a high-tech entrepreneur,
go to developers.google.com/startups
to find out how Google can help you.
That's it.
See you next time.