Twitter co-founder Biz Stone
In 2013, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone created a Q&A app ‘Jelly’ that basically allows you to crowdsource answers to questions, getting answers from people in your network, friends and friends of friends. Fundamentally, it operated like Reddit or Yahoo Answers and seemed way crasser because to ask a question, one couldn’t mask a username. Imagine publicizing your Google searches and instead of getting search results, you get answers from the people in your network. That is the question and answer app Jelly. The idea never took off, and the company decided to take a one-eighty from the Q&A model to an opinion-sharing app called Super, which never gained traction either.
Come 2016, and Stone is all fervent about the new and improved version of Jelly, which he believes will be much more successful. So, what is Jelly evolved to?
The Q&A app Jelly is an “on demand search engine,” where every search is done anonymously, and answers are delivered on-demand. The best part is, one doesn’t need to sign in to use the service. Jelly uses an algorithm to route questions to users on the platform who are considered ‘expert’ in the field. Their answer would automatically step above the average search engine result. Users can also browse through questions others have asked and bookmark for later read.
Users can sign up to answer questions on Jelly. People can rate whether responses were helpful. If a user receives a lot of positive feedback on a particular topic, they are more likely to be selected to answer similar questions in the future.
On-Demand Search Engine ‘Jelly’
Stone believes this is the future of search engine. For now, the goal is to get every question on Jelly answered in under 10 minutes. Presently, all questions on the on demand search engine are routed to a human. But, over time, as more and more questions are answered, it’ll be easier to receive an answer immediately.
The one-demand search engine is optimized for mobile and is also available for desktop searches.
Q&A app Jelly was launched by Biz Stone and Ben Finkel in 2013 since the launch of their founding company of the same name. Its investors include Jack Dorsey, Bono, Greylok, and Spark Capital.