Delivering the e-book experience
Natavudh Pungcharoenpong, whose Ookbee App has 6 million users,on the secrets behind his success
The practice of reading e-books in Thailand has received a big boost from a mobile application called Ookbee. The app was created by Natavudh Pungcharoenpong, who always used an iPad to read foreign magazines. He wanted to create an app that facilitates access to Thai books and magazines through smartphones and tablets. Offering newspapers, lifestyle magazines and pocketbooks, Ookbee now has six million users. Life talked to Natavudh about his business and the popularity of e-books.
The debate over e-books vs paper books remains lively. What are the good points of e-books?
There are so many benefits and advantages to e-books. They are delivered almost instantaneously. You can purchase, download and start reading them within seconds, without leaving your chair. You don’t have to go to a bookstore to buy them, or wait for them for days. No trees are required to make them. E-books take up less space and are portable. They can be interactive and contain audio, video and animation, which can enhance user experience. At Ookbee we deliver all the above benefits at affordable prices.
Did you ever expect that Ookbee would become a major e-book application in Thailand?
One of the things we were really concerned about when starting out was whether Thai people would be willing to spend money on digital content, especially e-magazines and e-books. We decided that the only way to know was to test the market by offering the best experience from the supply side and see if there were any sales coming up on the demand side. After several months, luckily, we found out that there is actually a market. Since then, we have grown our user-base constantly.
What’s the trend for e-book consumption?
E-book consumption is still very low in the country. We are talking about 1% e-book consumption compared to physical books. The number is 20% in the US and 5-8% in other developed countries. But it is growing everywhere. Since where we are now is so small, I am sure that usage will only go up. We launched the ‘All-You-Can-Read’ subscription model last year and believe that it will be a mainstream service in the near future.
What are your plans over the next few years for Ookbee?
I see Ookbee as one of the regional leaders for digital content, with operations in all countries across Asean. We operate in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, and within this year, Indonesia. We recently added audio books and plan to add more new specific ‘vertical apps’, such as comics and novels. We are thinking a lot about digital and physical book hybrid projects, as well.
What kind of books do you like to read?
I usually use audio books to save time. I can listen to them while driving and jogging. Most of them are business and technology books such as Malcolm Gladwell’s David And Goliath and Outliers: The Story Of Success. Other books I like include The Presentation Secrets Of Steve Jobs and Unstuff Your Life! Kick The Clutter Habit And Completely Organize Your Life For Good by Andrew J. Mellen.
What’s your personal philosophy on balancing family life and work?
Be creative and find time to think. In order to achieve something different, we need to do things differently. When you are running around meeting people, replying to e-mails, talking on the phone, suddenly a week has gone by without time to actually think. In some cases, new ideas come from doing or experiencing something different. For example, some of my best ideas come from visiting new places or meeting people from different fields of work. The key in balancing your work and life is to know what makes you happy and commit to doing it.
What advice would you give to those who are in the tech industry and are developing mobile apps?
First, being in a tech start-up where there is a rapid change in trend and technology, it’s almost impossible to plan things a long time in advance. I believe that true innovation comes from the results of lots of little experiments, measuring progress and learning quickly. You should design new projects, new features, work on them, test the results, learn from that, adapt and start again. With every cycle, innovate.
It’s good to be inspired by all the great success stories out there but in the end your start-up future is up to you. If you believe in it enough, are hungry enough and try hard enough I believe success is not far away.