TJ - TJ's Blog

The Q1 Valuation Recovery

When it comes to stock valuation—an admittedly flawed and volatile metric—the cohort has largely recovered from the early year beating, tracking with the broader market.…

Braze Announces Q1 2025 Results

If you measure progress by focus, Braze made a strong case this quarter. Revenue held steady at $162.1M, up 20% year over year. Free cash…

Invoca Acquires Symbl.ai

If last week Upland quit messaging, this week call-tracking analytics powerhouse Invoca declaratively entered the text-messaging market with the acquisition of Symbl.ai. For almost twenty…

One Expert, One Topic — Kyle Blanchard Talks AI, Messaging, and Improving Healthcare

Kyle Blanchard has spent his entire career chasing engagement. First, it was extraterrestrials—he studied physics and astrophysics, landed a job offer with SETI, and almost…

Deepgram, AI, and the Return of the Long-Duration Call

Deepgram’s “State of Voice AI” report shows the industry is broadly bullish about using AI for voice interfaces. While the survey contains useful insights, the…

One Expert, One Topic — Loyaan Egal Talks Data, National Security, and Knowing Yourself

Loyaan Egal is, quite literally, an African American—born to a Somali father and an American mother. That kind of cultural whiplash—ninth grade in Saudi Arabia,…

Q1 2025: Upland Drops Messaging, While LINK Loads Up

This week’s results delivered two very different messaging narratives: LINK is doubling down on RCS and OTT, while Upland has officially exited messaging. Upland is…

Unpacking Google’s 1 Billion RCS Messages a Day Stat

Google says it’s sending 1 billion RCS messages a day in the US. That works out to about 30 billion a month or 360 billion…

ChatGPT, Judgment, and the Colin Powell Rule

For the first time in three years, there’s a silent collaborator in my UCLA Anderson MBA classes. GenAI, and ChatGPT in particular, is everywhere in…

Klaviyo, Bandwidth, Sinch and Route Mobile Announce Q1 2025 Results

This week’s earnings drop showed the messaging cohort growing topline at a steady clip while tilting the mix toward richer channels with fatter margins. Klaviyo…

A Hall of Fame Moment Grounded By Mom’s Advice

Roy T. Fielding invented HTTP in the same labs that I learned computer science at the University of California, Irvine. I never met him and…

Twilio Q1 2025 Earnings Review

Twilio posted 12% YoY growth, highest-ever non-GAAP operating margins in the company’s history, healthy free cash flow, and strong AI-driven traction. Communications is humming, but…