Popping Sensay's Bubbl
This episode of Popping the Bubbl features, Co-founders, Ariel Jalali and Crystal Rose. They are two veterans of the startup game who partnered to build Sensay, a company that leverages technology to connect people desiring knowledge with “Sensays” who have answers.
More simply, with Sensay you can text, “Where do I get Thai in Manhattan Beach?” A short time later, a human will provide a great answer. If the question is more complex, “What do I do about this girl I like in my Algebra class?” The smitten and a Sensay join in an extended text based conversation that guides the asker into a successful approach of their crush.
Sensay lives as a contact on your Kik account, Facebook, SMS and other chat platforms. By selecting Sensay, then texting/messaging and providing a question, a topic or offer expertise, the Sensay bot will then search for an “Awesome Human” to interact with you on the topic of choice. Sensay does not focus directly on answers, instead, they work to create the a unique interactions between people who need an answer and those Sensays that can provide it.
Many startups and tech companies focus on creating more interaction between bots and humans. Others try to link humans from common social groups together...Sensay is linking, in unprecedented numbers, humans who had no previous connection. These interactions are based on topics...it’s akin to what Quora does to answer questions. However, the Sensay bot finds the expert for you, and a one-to-one chat occurs as a result. One of the other differences compared to Quora is that the interactions on Sensay are, for now, anonymous. It’s these unique human to human contacts that provide fantastic insight and trust.
This week I added Sensay on FB messenger, I answered a few questions for Sensay about my likes and topics as a way to identify my, what Sensay calls, “Tribes.” I began talking with actual people who had questions about: racing, podcasting, military and cross cultural communication. After test driving Sensay a few times, I have to say, the idea is brilliant. The people I engaged with had great questions that I was easily able to answer. Truly, the conversations were very similar to what I do on a day-to-day basis with my friends and business partners.
In the real world, I had a conversation with a friend about his business, his podcast and strategy. This conversation easily could have occurred through Sensay had we chosen that venue. Whatever a person’s level of complexity, the Sensay, due to their experience will have guidance. These conversations, mutually beneficial exchanges of ideas, lessons and perspectives are a critical game altering moment. A moment that Crystal and Ariel believe allows humans to use intelligence that is amplified, taking the AI idea and turning the moniker into something that’s more human-centric. How, does one make money on/with Sensay? A few ideas jump to mind.
1. Obviously, by providing initial consultation to people with questions, that may lead to consulting gigs.
2. At some time in the future, people who act as Sensay’s can be directly paid BitCoin or other form of currency for their time and knowledge. For now, a virtual exchange of Sensay coins as tips provides a possible route to revenue.
3. By gathering disparate talent, an entrepreneur can leverage talent regardless of location. Which fosters, diversity, value in wages and reduction of cost of business.
What we see inside Sensay’s Bubbl is a bright company founded by two veterans of the business who both feel, despite significant past successes, that they have their best idea and connection to people yet. Connecting people and amplifying intelligence; this is innovation any Sensay would suggest is the right answer.
