Interview with the Founder of FarAwayFish: Nick Annetts

I’ve had a great chance to interview the founder of Farawayfish, Mr. Nick Annetts.Fawawayfish, I believe, is one of the best amongst leaving a message to your loved ones when you pass away. The way the system works is really amazing, you’ll see how they’ve thought of a lot of angles and how much hard work was put into it. I’ve covered their website before here. Here’s how the interview went:

The man behind FarAwayFish : Nick Annetts

A web entrepreneur with a strong passion in making FarAwayFish a household name. He studied in Middlesex University, London and took the course BA Business Studies.

So Nick, What made you both pursue a Tech career?

I started with data analysis, it was a booming industry, with some interesting applications. The more techy stuff I did early on, has stood me in good stead for developing tech based business strategies

Are you working with a team? What is it like working together as a team?

Yes, I have a team of about 8. The challenge if the project is yours, is to trust your team members and their expertise in a given area. Sometimes they simply know better than you, and you have to trust in that.

Any challenges in doing so?

If they are working with you, particularly if it’s payment by shares (as is a necessity on a startup), you have to make sure they are as enthusiastic as you. Nobody should be there for the ride.

What other Web ‘businesses’ are you currently involved in? Are they still functional? How are they doing?

One at a time, this only major one at the moment, although I have some plans for 2 more sites, maybe next year.

Who came up with the idea of Farawayfish?

I came up with the idea about 2 ½ years ago, but if you mean the name, that came a bit later. We all liked it, it has a kind of meaningful abstractness about it, if that makes any sense!

How did (you) come up with the idea for the website?

In Bangkok, we were going to a new year gathering, when we heard a bomb had gone off, killing some people. I suddenly thought, if I had been one of them, how would all my friends around the world and online friends know?..They’d be emailing me thinking I was just too lazy to reply. The idea then grew from there.

How long did it take you to do so?

It took about 3 months to research and formulate the plan for the core functionality. I wanted to send triggered emails if I died, and also leave my own legacy, or profile online for others to take comfort in, or hopefully enjoy.

There’s some similarity with P.S. I Love you movie, have you seen it?

Ha yes, I saw it and quite enjoyed it. I had hoped to launch around the time it came out., but it took us nearly one more year to get things right. Lots of people draw a comparison, and the plot certainly could have worked with farawayfish.

Who’s your target audience?

Well I started off thinking niche, people who are terminally ill, or people in dangerous jobs. But I hope we attract anyone who thinks they have something worth passing on. But realistically it will probably be 35+ or younger if you have kids. There’s so much you could leave in a profile that young children could learn from when they are older (Dads tips on love, university etc). You could even use the blog section as a diary, knowing if something happened, the world would have an insight into your life.

How big is the “Last email after you die” industry?

Well if you’re online, you will send a last email at some point, so better plan it! It’s difficult to quantify, but there are a few sites out there, offering a last email service, but none with the depth of ours or the online profile publishing functionality.

How many members do you currently have?

We’ve been up and running just over a month and have had over 5000 unique visits and hundreds of sign ups, with little or no advertising, so I’m pleased with the take up. We are still tweaking the messaging, then, when I am happy, we’ll really start promoting hard.

I’ve noticed that you use “informers” to confirm of someone’s death, wouldn’t they feel weird if you do that?

I hope not, we do recommend that users also speak to their informers. But I suppose in a way it should be seen as an honour ,you are literally trusting somebody with your life and final wishes.

Wouldn’t that raise suspicion that something might be wrong with you?

We all go, and you don’t have to be very sick to do so. I suppose its emotional insurance. You know, YOU are in charge of your own legacy.

How much investment have you invested in Website (From Scratch)? (Time and monetary value)

Ohh ouch. Probably about $20 000 purely to get set up, but hundreds, probably into the 1000s of people hours from the team and myself (That’s not including all the waking up in the middle of the night, and shower thinking time!) With the extra functionality planned for phase2 the $ cost will rise, but I’m hoping that will be funded

Who are your competitors?

None have all our services such as the auto triggering or online profile, but there’s a couple of sites, mylastemail.com and deathswitch.com. I find them very limited and also very morbid

How does Farawayfish differ / compare to its competitors?

We have by far the best functionality allowing users complete online control of their own legacy. Our triggering system is unique, incorporating multi layer email and sms checking. None of the others allow you to build your own profile for publishing. But I suppose the most obvious difference is the branding and the tone. We are not morbid or funeral, but are about recording the great things you’ve experienced in your life to pass on.

What’s the Rough estimate of your earnings from Website?

That depends, on many things, but the site will be self funding in year 1 for sure. If we get the right contacts and promotion, for example, I’d like us to be used by military personnel as a “just incase” option. That would really see the site take off.

Are you currently working Full time for Website?

Well, 8hours a day! put it that way

Where do you see Website in the next 3 years?

I’ll look for some financial backing, this or early next year. This would allow me to maintain a back end presence in Asia, with satellite marketing offices working out of Europe and the US. I’d like the site be seen as the “norm”, “hey I’m on facebook and I also maintain a farawayfish presence, ‘cos you never know when!”

How do you see web startup’s perform during this time of recession?

It’s never ideal, but we have a free product, so I don’t think our sign ups will be affected. But I guess if you’re looking for financial backers to really kick start an idea, then these times are tough. Having said that, who wants to put all there money in a bank at the moment. If it’s a good idea it will swim (excuse the pun) whatever the conditions

How much funding does a web startup need to build a website?

That really depends. If you go out there asking for too little, people won’t take you seriously. But you can build a beta site to prove a concept for well under $10 000. Just make sure you get the core functionality in there.

What are the three important Lessons that you’ve learned when starting up websites?

1. Set your core idea out and then build it – DON’t let it grow and grow as you build – that’s a real temptation – you can always do that in phase 2.

2. Keep at it, because you WILL NOT get it right 1st time.

3. Don’t re-invent the wheel. Have a look at elements on other sites, tweak and improve on them. And of course see what’s free out there, and use it if you can.

Give 5 advices / suggestions / recommendations to other tech entrepreneurs out there who are wanting to start something online?

1. See what’s out there, if somebody else is already doing it, don’t necessarily let that put you off. It’s a big web with lots of users.

2. Get good hosting sorted out early, identify your needs – this will save you a lot of heartache. Don’t go solely on price.

3. Look for some interested partners to work with who have different skills to you, that maybe programming or marketing.

4. If you have a real killer idea don’t go telling everyone, and don’t be afraid to make people sign an NDA (non disclosure agreement) before you tell them. If they are serious they’ll respect you for it

5. Know your target audience, not everyone will love your site, but some people should!

— End of Interview —

FarAwayFish got me really inspired to think of really unique ideas that not a lot of people see in their everyday lives, it also got me really interested to how the whole system worked. The system, which I truly admire, was really well-thought of and you can see all the time and money placed into it. I also believe in their monetization strategy of having a freemium business model, as just giving all for free might not be the best way to go. I think sooner or later we’ll all want something to live behind and if we want to be “e-mortal” online, then this would be the best place to live our legacy.

Thank you very much Nick Annetts for taking the time to do the (long) interview and I hope FarAwayFish Team all the success.