Panquake 2024: Inside The Year That Will Change Everything

Talk Liberation dishes on new funding, new execs & the next piece of the Panquake pie: to be served up at a product launch in Hong Kong this May

NEWLY RELEASED VIDEO: the rapidly expanding Panquake team announces its second product release in six months, coming hot on the heels of the stratospherically performing Panquake Me.

“Talk Liberation is a very interesting and intriguing project. It is a company that can bring something to people and with this company we can change the world.” - Igor Kreslavsky, Chief Legal Officer, Talk Liberation.

In 2021, the idea of Panquake was presented to the world - who resoundingly backed the project in a viral crowdfunding campaign. By 2022 the front end application was built and the look and feel revealed, and the Panquake team released their first open source codebase - WLDragnet. In 2023, the first piece of the Panquake pie: Panquake Me was passed into the hands of users who ever since have been happily sharing short links that are private and safer for their friends, audiences and communities online. Now, the Panquake team have announced a new product to be revealed NEXT MONTH! Want to know more? The team discussed the big news in the video below.

A transcript of the video follows.

SD: Hi everyone, my name is Suzie Dawson, I’m the Founder and Chief Product Officer at Panquake.com. It’s been a while since we got to talk to you, of course we had Christmas and New Year’s break, and I actually was out with pneumonia through January and February so I’m sorry, that’s why I’ve been a little bit absent. But we are back to talk about Panquake 2024 and all the incredible and exciting things that are happening this year. We have tons of news for you in this update, and we’ve also brought some of our team and some of our friends as well. First up, I’m going to talk with Sean O’Brien, our Chief Technology Officer, who is going to cover off the growth of our team in 2023. It was a huge year for us, but we have also just finished a major funding round. We completed our Series A funding round at the beginning of this year and our team is going to grow even bigger in 2024. Hi Sean, welcome to the stream.

SO: Hi Suzie, so happy to be here and so happy to get to talk to everybody in this great new year and it is going to be a really, really big one for Panquake. As you all know - or as I hope you all know - back in September of last year we launched a little slice of Panquake called Panquake Me - that’s at https://pnqk.me. That’s a link shortener service that respects your privacy and actually strips out cruft, dirty stuff from links. So it’s a great tool for you to use when you share links on the internet, on other social platforms which are not as awesome as Panquake will be. We’ve continued to track the statistics around Panquake Me - over 80% of the visitors to Panquake Me actually use the service. That means the UI works - it’s easy, it’s intuitive; folks really want to use this product. That’s a huge, wonderful sort of assurance for us as a team that the things that we build are important to the users that we’re sharing them with. We wanted to make sure that Panquake Me was the first part of the wider Panquake network that we’ll share with you all and it’s turned out really, really well. That usage has continued throughout the winter and into the spring of 2024. We haven’t seen any drop off in that metric and in fact we’ve seen that the click ratio also continues to be high. So that means when users create those links, they’re actually sharing them on platforms, on their own social media, on their own blogs and websites and we can see folks are actively using this product. So that’s something that’s really really encouraging to everybody and the dev staff. As Suzie talked about, speaking of, we have grown our dev staff by 100% in 2023 - which means we’ve doubled it. And we’ve brought on folks, again, from around the world. We have a global, very distributed team, who are very excited to be building, doing innovative stuff, and we are still bringing that innovation, that enthusiasm, to the products and services that we’re building. So it’s going to be a big year - I know we’re going to talk a little more about it in this stream and in upcoming streams, and I think you all will be quite happy with what we’re going to deliver.

SD: Well it’s been three years now, since we first presented the idea of Panquake to the world and what we’ve achieved is amazing. As our audience knows, we have a fully functioning interface that has had incredible rave reviews from those who’ve got to see and use it so far, but we’ve also broadened our products and services, especially with the additional talent that we’ve brought on board. And not only has our development team grown dramatically, but our business team is as well. We’ve actually been in a position now to make several really key new executive appointments, and some of those new execs on our board will speak to you on this stream too. So as you know, this team started out with a bunch of people who’d worked together in the past, who knew each other, cared about each other, trusted each other and that’s why we’ve had such a sound and solid foundation to build upon and to grow with. Well there are a couple of people who have been really instrumental in my life who are now a part of the business as well. The first one is Rene de Wit. Now, Rene has actually known me since I was about 12 years old. Rene was my business mentor. I was very, very young when I started working as a database administrator in one of Ren’s businesses. I was also studying at business school in Auckland at the same time as I was working for him and Rene gave me amazing opportunities and advancements. He really placed his trust in me. He took me into a lot of different business experiences, business opportunities that I otherwise wouldn’t have got anywhere else. I learned about supplier negotiation from Rene. I learned about auditing, I learned about ERP systems and logistics, warehousing and distribution, ordering systems, all types of different experiences. And over the years, throughout my career, even though I actually left to have my first child when I was first working for Rene, in later years I did work with Rene in other software development roles as well. I was the Software Development Manager at a print organisation that Rene was CEO of and Ren and I have always stayed close and stayed in touch. Rene has a Masters degree in Chemistry, he also has a Masters degree in Business Administration, from a pretty prestigious business school in New Zealand. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would one day be in a position to employ Rene, rather than Rene employing me. Throughout the first couple of years of Panquake I kept in touch with Ren, told him about what I was doing, sought his advice - and he gave me fantastic and completely free advice - he’s always been so generous with me in that way. And then late last year, almost off the cuff, I pitched Rene to join our team and incredibly he said yes. So Rene is with us tonight - Rene de Wit - and Rene is now the Chief Commercial Officer of Talk Liberation. He has also been appointed the Executive Chair of our Executive committee. So he’s in an extremely key role and to have someone with decades of serious business and commercial experience join our company is really transformational for us and really a key moment. So, hi Rene, welcome to the stream.

RdW: Hi Suzie.

SD: So cool to have you here.

RdW: Thanks, that was obviously a significant description of who I am and how we’ve been linked together for so many years.

SD: Rene, you’ve been with us for four or five months now and you’ve had a chance to see inside the core of our operations, to get to know all of our team, and to get to see at a really high level exactly how this international business runs. What can you tell us about what you’ve seen and what you’ve learned?

RdW: Obviously Suzie, I was really excited to join the team. But I never imagined that I would be walking into an organisation that has the level of skill and ability that it has. So it’s been really exciting to work with yourself Suzie and Sean and a whole bunch of people associated with the organisation. I’ve seen a highly skilled development team that are being led really well - a likeminded team that are really focused on the goal. And in particular, a really organised process. There’s serious architecture around the way the software is being developed. There is nothing disorganised about this organisation. I see things moving very quickly and the quality of output is extremely high and with a very attractive look-and-feel for the user. So it’s very exciting.

SD: That’s so great to have that feedback and insight from you, I love to hear about what other people see and other people experience in our organisation. Can you tell us a little bit about your role - what does it mean for you to be Chief Commercial Officer and what is coming up for you this year?

RdW: Look, I think this is a really exciting year for Talk Liberation. This is the year that we’re going to take commercial products to market and we’re going to see our first revenue. So that’s a really exciting step in a business that’s been preparing for it for the last three years. My role is to build a really solid sales and marketing team and that includes everything from management and relationships with customers, customer engagement, building the appropriate management team that we can really be focused on our social media and everything else and in addition to chairing the board as well. So my role is to really commercialise everything that is coming out of the core of the business.

SD: Fantastic, and there isn’t a better person that we could have to do it Ren, I’m really really grateful and I love having you on board.

RdW: Thanks, Suzie.

SD: So… what can you tell us about products coming to market this year? I happen to know that there is a big opportunity - an event happening in May. Do you want to tell us about that?

RdW: Yes! We will be presenting a new product to market - so its a launch - and that product will have a very broad application to not just the blockchain industry but many, many industries across many, many sectors. With me will be Sean O’Brien, there’ll be John Kiriakou and there will also be Sheree Ip and we’ll be launching this new product. So it’ll be the first time that anyone around the globe sees it. So this product will have the same level of design quality and finish that you’re used to seeing from products out of Talk Liberation. So it’s very exciting. It’s a great opportunity for us to get our name out there.

SD: Awesome! So huge news - something big is coming - the next piece of the Panquake pie will be revealed in Hong Kong. Okay, so another executive appointment which is a really key one which has been made, is another trusted and longstanding friend and relationship of mine and ours and that is Mr. Igor Kreslavsky. Igor has come on board to manage our legal affairs and drive our legal strategy, and also to manage our legal advisors in a half a dozen countries around the world. Igor is someone I’ve known for more than eight years now, he’s gone above and beyond for me many, many times and is a brave and talented and supremely qualified individual to be in this role and a part of this organisation. Hi Igor, welcome to the stream.

IK: Thank you Suzie for having me. I’m very delighted to be part of the team. I’m so glad to be in this role and this position. My area of expertise is corporate law, risk assessment, compliance and intellectual property. I’ve known Suzie for - how many - eight years, ten years? So long that it’s even difficult to remember. And for all those years, the things I know about Suzie is that she’s a kind, caring and very result-oriented person. Even things that we can’t believe will be achieved, and people think that you’re probably crazy to even start all of that, even those things can become a reality when you deal with Suzie. I think those qualities are something that we can bring all together to the company because it’s the same thing, it works here as well.

SD: Igor, ultimately what was it that made you decide to take up the position of Chief Legal Officer for Talk Liberation?

IK: Talk Liberation is a very interesting and intriguing project. It is a company that can bring something to people and with this company we can change the world.

SD: OK guys that gave me shivers. Seriously. Oh my god, I love it when people just speak from the heart like that. And it proves that even a lawyer can speak from the heart and he’s got such a big heart that you now know why I recruited him for this position. Okay, we have got another exceptional friend of ours - and teammate - and that is the one and only John Kiriakou, Brand Ambassador for Talk Liberation. Hi John!

JK: Hi, thanks for having me!

SD: You’re so welcome, it’s so good to see you and you look great.

JK: Thank you, it’s my pleasure.

SD: John, you came on board really early with this project and you believed in us. You believed in us before we even had built Panquake. And you backed us relentlessly, and you’ve been so loyal and such a great contributor and such a great voice and face for our project and our company. You’ve also got to be at our team meetings and meet our team and see how we run from the inside. What is your take on what makes this company special and what have you seen in terms of progress and growth from us?

JK: I’d like to go back to when you and I first talked about this. I remember saying to you, I really don’t know very much about tech. And you said, I really don’t have to know very much about tech. And I said, well who is involved? And you told me. And Suzie, I remember saying, if you’re involved and Sean O’Brien is involved and Sheree is involved, then I definitely want to be involved. These are people who are standouts in their fields, they’re as honest as the day is long and they can get things done. And boy, right from the get-go that is what happened. Things got done. One of the things which has been such a pleasant surprise for me is, you know, I’ve never been in an organisation right from the very beginning. And so to watch this go from an idea, to a company, to an ongoing concern in three short years with an explosive addition of staff, and not just people that… you can go on the street corner and offer people jobs, but these are people who are at the tops of their fields. In everything from tech, to legal, to business… my God that is absolutely something I want to be involved in. So to see the quickness with which Panquake has grown, it makes me proud to be involved. It makes me excited to see where it is going to go - not ten years from now, but just one year from now! And to watch the commitment that people have to grow the company, not because they’re doing this to make money, but so that all of the rest of us can have somewhere to go where we can trust each other and we can speak our minds and not have to worry about being censored. It just makes me proud. I’m glad to be involved.

SD: We’re so thrilled and so honoured to have you and I’m so pleased to be sending you to Hong Kong in May! Are you looking forward to that John, are you excited?

JK: I am very excited. I’m proud to say I’ve been to something like 75 countries over the course of my life. I’ve never been to Hong Kong. I’ve never been to China. And going is one thing - going for an important reason is another thing. Wow. That puts us on a whole different level and it’s going to be exciting just to be involved.

SD: And you’ll be presenting the next piece of the Panquake pie. The last one was pretty special, the next one is even more special and there’s plenty more to come after that. And with you representing us John, I don’t think we can go wrong.

JK: Well thank you for having me. This is very quickly becoming one of the most important things that I’ve ever done. As I said, I’m just proud to be working with you fine people and working for the right reasons.

SD: Well, John, considering some of the things that you’ve done, that’s incredibly high praise. Thank you so much.

JK: Thank you.

SD: Now I’m going to hand over to Sheree Ip, our Public Relations Manager. She’ll also be in Hong Kong. Hi Sheree, welcome to the stream. Can you wrap it up for us?

SI: Hi Suzie, how’s it going? Look, I’m very excited to be going to Hong Kong and as you can tell, the rest of the team as well. Because this is going to be huge for us, to all be able to get together for this huge international product launch. So, what can we tell you about the launch? Well it’s going to be your next generation cutting-edge technology and solving a material problem for a lot of industries. So it’s very exciting for us and the team because it’s going to be our second product release within a year. The product we are launching has industry applications with businesses across multiple sectors, in particular it is set to revolutionise the digital marketing landscape as you know it. So it’s going to have an impact for your content creators, digital marketers, managers, assistants who work on the campaign side as well. So that’s all I can tell you for now, for the rest of it you will need to wait for our launch. So this is going to be an absolutely huge milestone for us to be doing an international product launch together in the heart of Asia and it’s all going to be happening in a few short weeks. So looking forward to catching up with you guys. And it brings us closer to the next step for the Panquake release! So I will look forward to seeing you guys all in Hong Kong! Thanks Suzie, talk to you guys soon, and catch you all soon!

SD: Thank you so much! Okay everyone, that’s it, we’re going to wrap this for now but as you can probably tell there will be a lot more coming from us very soon. So keep an eye out, subscribe at talkliberation.substack.com, keep an eye on panquake.com/news and also, join our Telegram channel. You’ll find Panquake sharing really important privacy, security, legal information every single day on Telegram. It’s a pretty new channel for us and we’ve only got a few hundred subscribers so you thousands of subscribers that have been following us on Twitter, get over there and subscribe to our Telegram! Thanks everyone, see you very soon. Bye bye!

[End of transcript]

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