Interview with Capsule.fm

Norwegian startup Capsule.fm is the team behind the app “Capsule.fm” that mixes your music, news and social media into a live, interactive and personal audio-stream, making it easier to stay informed and entertained on the go. The startup has developed an artificial persona that does all this and more, while maintaining a simple User Interface.

The Berlin-based startup is moving its app “Capsule.fm” out of the beta phase, and in that connection, Nordicstartupbits had a talk with Espen Systad, co-founder and CEO of Capsule.fm, about the startup and the team behind it.

How did you get the idea for Capsule.fm?
“We saw the trend to wearables very early and started to play around with services designed for “post-screen-computing” and many products around audio appeared. We had to go through 12 different ideas, before we nailed it in Capsule.fm.”

What makes Capsule.fm unique?
“As far as we know Capsule.fm is the very first media-company in our field. Being a pioneer makes us unique in our self. Compared to other startups, I think an interesting thing with Capsule.fm is that we aim very long into the future, and do not stress about short time traction. We are giving people a more intimate and customizable product through smart technology and artificial voices, compared to other solutions.”

What is your background and how did you start as an entrepreneur?
“I joined the very first wave of internet companies in Oslo back in 1995, and worked a lot with digital content, journalism and publishing. I co-founded the same company twice and sold it twice. I have been working as head of social media for the Norwegian media-group Amedia, before I moved to Berlin to found Capsule.fm.”

How did the founder team meet?
“I moved to Berlin without a team, but with a vision of what I wanted to do. I made new friends that started to share the vision, and I convinced an old friend to move to Berlin and co-found. In this process, the ideas and concept changed a lot, and it very soon became a team-effort.

How have you kept focus on this project?
We are vision-driven. We all know how Capsule.fm will be in 2 and 5 years, and then it is quite simple to know what fits or not. It is the only way to navigate into a new and unknown market. We can adapt and change plans fast, but we are sticking to the vision.

What methods are you using to get traction?
“We have good traction and we are very happy with the retation-rate we are getting. In this stage, we are more focused on learning from the traction that we have than to add more. “

What have been your biggest challenge until now?
“In the beginning it was to get potential partners and investors to understand what we are building. It became a lot easier after Spike Jonze´s had success with his film “Her”.”

Capsule.fm has recently released their app globally, reaching No.1 App in the News section in 28 countries, and is able for download in the App store for $1.99.

If you wish to know more about Capsule.fm then check out the links below:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/capsule.fm-newscaster-dj-computer/id770921122?mt=8