This story appears in the
March 2005 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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When three executives with resumes featuring Apple, Inktomi and
Microsoft vowed to start Vazu, their idea was born of frustration: Every time
they bought new cell phones, it took hours to re-enter the names
and phone numbers. "Absolutely everyone had this problem. What
was surprising was that no one had solved it," says Ken Thom,
41, the Palo Alto, California, company's vice president of
products.
Thom, along with Vazu CEO Ramiro Calvo, 42; and COO Soujanya
Bhumkar, 37; and three other backers, devoted $100,000 in late 2002
to researching the technical possibilities.
The technology they have developed works with Internet Explorer
to send information to cell phones via short text messages. Vazu
Contacts transfers names and phone numbers from e-mail
applications; Vazu Click can be used to select and send
information, such as directions, from websites; and Vazu Seek is
essentially an online directory. The services are free, but some
users pay for the text messages, depending on their wireless
plans.
