Posted by Nikhil Katti on Mar 18, 2010 at 6:56 pm

See the live post here

Michael Stennicke, the CEO and Co-Founder of CarryQuote (company) was nice enough to let us review him. Michael has over 15 years of experience in trading businesses. He has graduated from the Technical University of Denmark and has studied finance and philosophy at the Copenhagen Business School and University of Copenhagen. CarryQuote is a mobile app that displays global, real-time information and analysis. Here is the interview:

Q: How do you think the iPhone has revolutionized the mobile phone industry?

The iPhone changed consumer behavior. It made ‘mobile computing’ a real possibility in the minds of millions of consumers. Touch technology coupled with a ‘large-enough’ screen enabled users to do things on their mobile device that were previously confined to larger notebooks or desktop computers.

Additionally, the iPhone changed ‘computing’ as we know it by leading the charge to decentralized and populist software creation, or in other words, the rise of the App. The iPhone App Store which now has over 140,000 apps in its roster (of which CarryQuote is one), is ‘network effects’ in its most impressive form. Again, Apple changed consumer behavior by giving users the ability to customize their phones in ways previously impossible.

Finally, Apple applied its ‘simplicity rules’ approach to the design of the iPhone UI, making it, like the iPod, a mass-appeal ‘dummy proof’ device.

The iPhone is essentially an anywhere connection to the information consumers need to increase productivity, efficiency and fun.

Q: What separates your company from your competitors with mobile phone applications?

CarryQuote is an inexpensive and highly customizable mobile + online SaaS application that contextually analyzes, ranks and charts the market data and information investors need to make faster and more informed investment decisions.

By offering a mobile application that gives users a total feel for the market in a matter of minutes at an affordable price, CarryQuote has freed investors from their desks. They no longer have to fear missing a market move with CarryQuote.

CarryQuote’s on-demand market data model is unique in the industry. Subscribers pay for actual usage, rather than for access to exchange / index data (i.e., generally a flat fee per additional exchange). CarryQuote provides investors with the largest repository of real time global market data (95 global exchanges/indices) available for the price in the industry. It is equipped with a powerful chart and analytics engine that filters, ranks and charts data to make it as easily digestible and actionable as possible.

Finally, CarryQuote can be white-label branded for financial institutions, and used to distribute proprietary content such as financial research, market data, audio or video content.

Q: What is your company background, size (employees, developers, etc), and company inspirations?

I founded CarryQuote with my business partner, Lars Tvede, in May 2006 to solve a shared frustration: the lack of options for affordable, real time, and actionable market data that’s available on any device. We’ve both been active financial traders throughout our adult lives, and through most of that time, we both looked for solutions to this problem– including real time subscription services with endless amounts of financial data. However, nothing on the market provided the fast, actionable, mobile intelligence we were looking for.

Once we discovered that many of our colleagues and friends shared the same problem, we decided to create CarryQuote. Since then, it has evolved into an invaluable tool that investors worldwide rely on to stay on top of their portfolios and the market moves that influence them.

We are headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with offices in New York, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen (China). We currently have 29 employees.

Q: Do you outsource any projects or development, if so, how much?

We do not outsource our development. We do, however, partner with financial-industry resellers who custom-brand out application for their user-base.

Q: Advancements in graphics and animations in the mobile phone industry have astronomically grown within the past couple of years. How much time does your company devote to graphical, animation, and sound production for mobile applications? Are there areas that you focus on?

We spend a considerable amount of time (especially now that Version 2.0 of our product is due out in June) optimizing the GUI of our application to make it as user-centric as possible. Our charting technology enables users to view fully interactive charts on their Smartphone, a first in the mobile market data space.

Version 2.0 of our product will include advanced tab-formatting to make the best possible use of small screen space and highly customizable video (including live TV feeds), breaking news feeds and advanced portfolio features.

Q: How many applications has your company planned, developed, or created at any given time?

We have a single application for all major Smartphone platforms: iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile. We have created customized versions of our application for clients ranging from ODL in the UK, Infobolsa in Spain, and IASG and Wiley Publishing in the US.

Q: What do you think of the iPhone Operating System in comparison to other mobile platforms? Are Apple’s competitors finally producing a comparable product or has the iPhone already monopolized the niche market?

The iPhone Operating System gives a company like ours a great deal of flexibility in creating a mobile UI that is comparable to the traditional online experience. The OS is generally more flexible from a mobile usability standpoint than BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. We do not develop for Palm as we feel that its market share / user base is so small as to not warrant our attention at this point.

Google’s Android OS is the clear front-runner when it comes to competing with the iPhone in the US. It offers equivalent flexibility to the iPhone when it comes to App development (potentially more because it is truly open source). Our application looks and behaves very similarly on iPhone and Android.

Nokia’s 70% penetration into the India and China markets gives it a distinct advantage over the iPhone in the world’s two fastest growing mobile markets. If Nokia can get its act together re: releasing a comparable phone uniquely applicable to these two markets, it could be homerun.

Q: Is your company currently developing for other mobile platforms, if so, which ones and why?

CarryQuote is compatible with all major Smartphones (BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian, Android, and Windows Mobile).

Because each Smartphone application was fully developed in native code without the use of third party libraries or software, we are able to offer an optimal end-user experience that features maximum scalability, easy maintenance and the fastest screen rendering speed possible.

Q: Marketing an application can be a very difficult task. With so many applications being developed and released on a daily basis, capturing user attention in an App Store is challenging. What have you found to be an effective way to market your products to users?

We offer a thirty day free trial for our subscription based application that is marketed to the investor community across media types to build awareness and drive direct sign-ups online or via SMS (which directs a user an app store in the case of Google and iPhone).

Q: Following the response above, what do you think of the store review process? Is it helping or hurting your business? What are some recommendations in order to speed up this process?

Initially we had to offer a free delayed data / limited features version our product via the iPhone App Store. We clearly explained to users that in order to receive the true benefits of our product (i.e. real time data from around the world w/advanced features), they needed to subscribe to the service. A few early reviewers did not subscribe, and produced negative reviews of the ‘free’ product, which hurt us.

Q: What do you think about other application review websites? Are they effective at providing in-depth reviews of applications and helping market your products? Or is your company experiencing challenges of trying to find quality application websites? What do you think of AppModo?

Personally, I like to take a look at application review websites on a regular basis in order to keep a pulse on what’s happening across the industry.

Since we recently launched CarryQuote solution (June 2009), we are just starting to gain traction with these sites.

Understandably, we were very pleased to have this opportunity to speak to Appmodo, since you’re one of the most credible and robust sources of mobile app news and information.

Q: What are your thoughts on the App Store user reviews and the ability to monitor them?

They are a very helpful and easy way to understand consumer wants and needs. All of this information goes into improving our product over time.

Q: What is your favorite application?

CarryQuote, of course.

Q: What is your most popular application? Have you received any awards or achievements for that application?

Our flagship application, CarryQuote is popular amongst individual investors worldwide. We offer a range of packages and pricing to make it accessible to just about everyone.

As a company, we have been selected as a 2009 Red Herring Global 100 Award winner and a winner of the 12th annual IMD Startup Competition.

Sign up for a free 30-day trial of the CarryQuote solution here: 30 Free Trial Link