Adam D’Angelo (Quora Co-founder) – Knowledge, Experimentation, and Quora | EconTalk (Aug 2016)


Chapters

00:00:07 Founding Quora: Knowledge Sharing and Signaling
00:05:26 Strategies for Building a Successful Online Platform
00:12:07 Internet Personalization: Driving Growth and Reshaping Markets
00:15:31 Quora - Monetization, Growth, and Data-Driven Innovations
00:24:15 Personalization on Quora
00:30:45 Controlled Experimentation in Product Development
00:35:26 Improving Product Quality Through Iterative Experimentation
00:46:56 Internal Operations of Quora
00:56:48 Digital Diaries: Archiving Human Perception for the Future
01:00:09 The Promise and Perils of Personalization in a Digital Economy

Abstract

The Transformative Journey of Quora: Building a Knowledge-Sharing Ecosystem

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, Quora emerges as a distinctive knowledge-sharing platform, fundamentally transforming how information is exchanged online. Founded by Adam D’Angelo, a visionary with a unique blend of computer science acumen and social science interest, Quora differentiates itself by focusing on generating and preserving high-quality knowledge rather than merely indexing existing information. This article delves into the platform’s unique features, such as the requirement of real names, personalization through advanced algorithms, and its commitment to maintaining a high-quality user base. Additionally, it examines Quora’s growth strategies, challenges in data management, and Adam D’Angelo’s philosophy and future aspirations for the platform, including the role of personalization in shaping internet markets and its long-term archiving vision.

Quora’s monetization strategy revolves around advertising, with promising results from initial small tests. The platform seeks to strike a balance between generating revenue and maintaining a user experience free from excessive ads. Despite its impressive valuation, D’Angelo refrains from commenting on specifics, noting that investor projections are based on usage and monetization assumptions.

1. Quora: A Knowledge-Sharing Revolution

Quora’s inception marked a significant shift in the online question-and-answer landscape. Its mission to build a comprehensive database of high-quality answers sets it apart. The platform’s user-centric approach, where questions are met with expert answers, has attracted a diverse user base, ranging from curious individuals to subject matter experts. Adam D’Angelo, the founder of Quora, emphasizes its mission as a knowledge-sharing platform to connect individuals seeking knowledge with those who possess it. Quora presents its content in a question-and-answer format.

2. The Genesis: Adam D’Angelo’s Vision

Adam D’Angelo’s journey from a Facebook executive to the founder of Quora is marked by his passion for merging computer science with social science. His experience at Facebook influenced his perspective on product design, leading him to create a platform that prioritizes knowledge sharing and quality content. D’Angelo pursued computer science in college while also showing an interest in social science and economics. His interest in knowledge sharing led him to recognize the vast amount of untapped knowledge residing in people’s minds. He saw an opportunity to create a platform that would unlock this knowledge and provide long-lasting value.

3. Unique Features of Quora

Quora’s success is attributed to several key features that distinguish it from other platforms. A significant aspect is its Real Names Policy, which requires users to use their real identities, fostering a credible and trustworthy environment. This policy is particularly effective in attracting expert contributions. Additionally, Quora invests heavily in personalization, tailoring content to match each user’s interests. This approach is enhanced through advanced machine learning techniques used for merging duplicate questions, streamlining the user experience. The platform caters to a diverse user base, balancing the needs of those seeking specific answers with those browsing for general knowledge. The use of real names establishes accountability, inviting experts to contribute while personalizing answer recommendations through various signals such as past answers and question relevance. This careful curation and presentation of content fill knowledge gaps while avoiding redundancy.

4. Growth and Challenges

Quora’s journey has been marked by rapid growth, reaching approximately 100 million monthly unique visitors. This expansion, however, brings its own set of challenges, particularly in infrastructure, data management, and maintaining a balance between monetization and user experience. D’Angelo’s primary focus is on enhancing the core question-and-answer feature of the platform while addressing these challenges. He acknowledges the difficulty in maintaining quality content at scale, emphasizing the importance of preventing the platform from becoming chaotic and discouraging expert participation. The growth of the platform necessitates continual enhancements to infrastructure and technical systems, making scaling personalization increasingly complex. However, this expansion also enables more sophisticated machine learning and personalization capabilities.

Quora uses experimentation as a tool for improvement, focusing on personalization and finding relevant questions. These experiments compare different versions of the product, with a predefined hypothesis. Interestingly, most experiments do not meet the expected outcomes, but they are essential for learning and refinement. The drivers of this experimentation include user base growth, advancing technology, and an increasing engineering team. Surprising findings from these experiments highlight the importance of speed, transaction costs, and the perception of time in user engagement. Quora values both quantitative and qualitative feedback, using it to assess product improvements and understand user sentiment. The process of addressing failed experiments involves overcoming bias and dealing with consequences, which can be challenging, especially for those new to experimentation.

5. Personalization’s Broader Impact

Adam D’Angelo recognizes the transformative effect of personalization in internet markets, citing examples like Netflix and Google, which have thrived by offering tailored experiences. This strategy has allowed Quora to consolidate its market presence by catering to diverse user needs. D’Angelo emphasizes the pivotal role of personalization in the expansion of markets, primarily facilitated by digital platforms. In contrast to traditional media, such as magazines, where everyone views the same content, digital media provides tailored experiences for individual users. Personalization enables a small number of digital products to serve a vast audience effectively by showcasing content relevant to each user’s preferences. D’Angelo cites the example of Google as a single search engine catering to a global audience. He also mentions Netflix as a dominant player in streaming entertainment, eliminating the need for traditional cable providers and offering a wide range of content personalized for each user.

Personalization on Quora involves various factors, including followed topics, followed individuals, past behavior, and question engagement. D’Angelo uses the platform like a typical user to generate theories and ideas, which he then tests and validates with controlled experiments and user data. This approach ensures that the user experience is tailored to individual interests, enhancing relevance and engagement.

6. Experimental Approach to Product Development

Quora’s product development is heavily reliant on data-driven experimentation. A significant proportion of experiments fail, but this trial-and-error approach has led to valuable insights and improvements. The platform continually seeks to leverage advancements in machine learning to enhance user experience. Reflecting on Quora’s early days, D’Angelo acknowledges that the addition of excessive features led to increased complexity and burdened the platform’s performance and development. To address this, Quora employs a systematic approach to product development through controlled experiments. The company’s in-house experiment framework facilitates the efficient execution of these experiments, with approximately 2,000 experiments conducted to date, and about 30 running concurrently.

7. Quora’s Cultural and Philosophical Aspects

Under D’Angelo’s leadership, Quora’s culture emphasizes continuous learning and knowledge sharing. The platform hosts events to foster community among top contributors and utilizes internal resources like research groups and external speakers to maintain an environment of intellectual growth. Quora hosts an annual event for top writers to interact with the team, addressing the challenge of community building in online platforms. As CEO, D’Angelo spends most of his time on internal company matters, including management, product direction, recruiting, and staying updated on industry developments. He keeps informed through books on management, following machine learning advancements on Quora, and sharing relevant information with his staff.

The company culture promotes learning about the latest advancements in machine learning and other relevant fields. Regular reading groups, external speakers, and mailing lists facilitate knowledge sharing within the company. D’Angelo emphasizes the importance of conducting their own experiments and being cautious about relying solely on the results of other companies’ product changes. The mission “share and grow the world’s knowledge” serves as a guiding principle for the company, with hiring focused on employees who are genuinely interested in this mission. D’Angelo shares stories of users finding life-saving and life-changing answers on Quora, encouraging employees to appreciate the impact of their work beyond individual responsibilities.

8. Archiving Digital Knowledge for the Future

Quora’s vast repository of information is not just a present-day resource but a potential archive for future generations. The platform offers unique insights into contemporary perceptions and responses to global events, making it a valuable historical record. The long-term archiving of digital knowledge is crucial, as most internet services focus solely on the present. History is often colored by the writer’s perspective, lacking a sense of people’s feelings and diverse viewpoints. Quora acts as a time capsule, providing future generations with a nuanced perspective on public sentiment towards historical figures like Donald Trump. While understanding individual opinions from diaries is valuable, the internet offers a vast collection of perspectives and data. Complex issues like inequality, challenging to capture visually, could potentially be better understood using the wealth of information available online.

9. Quora’s Future and Independence

Adam D’Angelo envisions keeping Quora independent and public. He acknowledges the challenges of personalization, such as ethical considerations and market exploitation, but remains committed to enhancing user experiences while maintaining transparency and ethical standards. D’Angelo remains tight-lipped about Quora’s specific monetization plans, despite the company’s valuation exceeding a billion dollars.

Adam D’Angelo on the Future of Quora and the Power of Personalization

D’Angelo plans to remain dedicated to Quora’s mission for the long term and eventually take the company public. He believes the power of personalization is currently underrated and will revolutionize various industries. Concerns exist that personalization may not always enhance welfare, especially if companies focus solely on profits. D’Angelo suggests Facebook’s transparency in disclosing news feed personalization might be strategic to avoid misconceptions and regulations. Price discrimination through personalization is a potential concern, as companies could adjust prices based on user preferences. However, competition is essential in preventing companies from exploiting personalization solely for profit.

Conclusion

Quora, under the leadership of Adam D’Angelo, has not only revolutionized the way people seek and share knowledge but also stands as a testament to the power of personalization and quality in the digital age. Its focus on creating a credible, high-quality knowledge base, combined with its innovative approach to user experience and content personalization, positions Quora as a unique entity in the internet landscape. As the platform continues to grow and evolve, it holds the promise of not just being a contemporary knowledge repository but also an invaluable archive for future generations.


Notes by: Ain