Inside Facebook

With over 11 million installs and 150,000 daily active users across a network of a dozen applications, Facebook app developer Jambool has achieved impressive stats for just a two-man shop. Inside Facebook sat down with Reza Hussein, Co-Founder of Jambool, to learn more.

Reza, what is your vision for Jambool?

We want to build apps that run across multiple social networks that target niche communities. Right now, we have 18 applications on Facebook spread across 3 buckets - gifting (apps like Hug Me, Send Good Karma), ranking (Who’s the cutest baby?), and community (Ski and Snowboard). We just want to be an app developer for now, though we may build websites with the content later on.

How big is the company right now, and how’s the business going?

We have two people, myself and Vikas Gupta. We both came from Amazon. Right now we are profitable - we’re making enough to make the wives happy However, we’re actively looking to hire more engineers and we’re starting to look for investors. We’d like to raise a small round.

How are you guys making money?

We do a number of things. We use a variety of ad networks like Social Media and Cubics. We also do some CPA offers through Offerpal and a couple others. We also do some direct deals ourselves.

What are some examples of direct deals you’ve done?

Well, we’ve done a deal with Designer Apparel, a destination site for females to discuss clothing and shoes, where we incentivize users with virtual currency if they become a fan of their page. We’ve also done a CPC deal with TripWiser who’s advertising their app (Going Places) directly.

Are your demographics largely female?

Our gifting apps are about 60% female, which I think generally reflects Facebook’s female skew. Our baby apps are 85% female, who are all in their late 20’s or 30’s having kids.

How’s the upcoming Facebook profile redesign going to affect Jambool?

Most of our growth actually doesn’t come from the profile box, so we’re less concerned than other developers perhaps.

Thanks Reza. Any final thoughts?

We’re looking to hire engineers, and we’re raising money!