Thred: One app to rule the world?

Thred (ASX:THD) is an Aussie start-up that has already become a key start-up partner of Microsoft through its BizSpark Program. The vision of the app is "to be the most useful, obvious and used app in the world" – a fairly bold and ambiguous statement.

Or is it?

With Thred, users can connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime, regardless of which social, mail or business app they use. Imagine it as one single place for all social, service, business or mail app contacts – all in one neat little app. It’s basically all your connections together; the concept is intriguing to say the least.

The app aggregates a user’s email, messaging, social media and commerce apps into one tidy platform, allowing people to manage their communications from this one simple place and communicate to Facebook or Twitter contacts without needing a phone number.

Even when a message is sent to someone using Thred, they will be able to receive it even if they don’t have the app, which will surely prompt further downloads of the innovative app.

The team behind Thred includes David Whitaker and Silicon Valley native Chris Adams, both renowned tech entrepreneurs; as well as Robyn Foyster, the former editor-in-chief of The Australian Women’s Weekly.

Thred Chair and MD Geoff Marshall says "Our launch is just the beginning. We have an exciting journey ahead and we see Thred competing on a global stage. We ultimately and passionately believe Thred is set to change the way users communicate."

Founder and board director Whitaker first began working on the idea of one app for all back in early 2014.

"Thred was first designed to enhance the sharing of content through joining your social accounts in one place. Since then it has grown very naturally into messaging and joins all your apps together. From the outset, it has been built with the user in mind to more accurately reflect the way we really communicate. We want people to start ‘threding’ and sharing the word to others about an easier way to manage their contacts, messaging and social media."

Adams, who previously worked with Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook, says: "There are only a few world-changing ideas that come along in a lifetime – this is one of them. You can now put everything under one roof, saving time and making your life generally more streamlined."

Thred’s board of directors certainly has the experience and know-how to give the app a good nudge in the right direction. Can it compete on a global stage? Well, if it does what it says on the tin, then there is absolutely no reason why not.

While Thred is still very much in its infancy, and upgrades to the initial release will no doubt follow soon, the future certainly looks bright. The concept is brilliant but as with all start-ups, a brilliant idea does not necessarily mean success.

You can find out more about Thred here.

** Update 16 May 2017: We have spend a lot of time with the Thred app and in our opinion it has been released too early and needs a lot more work. The idea is great, but there is a big difference between having a great idea and implementing it well. The share market has reacted badly to the initial release and in our opinion, Thred needs to release a quality v2 as soon as possible to appease the market, shareholders, and the public who expect big things from Thred.