The senSMS pitch deck, dated November 11, 2010, presents a solution for the Senegalese market where internet infrastructure was lagging behind mobile adoption. At the time, Senegal had 7.5 million SMS users compared to fewer than 500,000 computers. The company proposed a 'Web 2.0' social layer for SMS, allowing users to create groups and send messages for free via a web interface, monetized through advertising and revenue-sharing with telecom operators. While the deck lacks a team slide and specific financial ask in the provided pages, it clearly defines the market gap: the high cost of data…
Key takeaways
- Senegal's market in 2010 had 7.5 million SMS users but fewer than 500,000 computers, creating a massive connectivity gap (Slide 3).
- The business model relies on a 1:7 ratio of Mobile Originated (MO) to Mobile Terminated (MT) messages (Slide 9).
- Monetization is planned through shared advertising revenue with telecom operators and direct sales of ad space (Slide 9).
- The product features a web interface for group management, profile editing, and free SMS sending to groups (Slide 7).
- Viral growth is predicated on users creating unlimited groups with no cap on membership (Slide 11).
- The launch sequence moves from a closed beta pilot to an 'international extension' in the final phase (Slide 13).
- The deck positions senSMS as the '2.0' evolution of the standard SMS tool, comparable to the social shift of Twitter and Facebook (Slide 5).
- There is no mention of the founding team, their technical background, or the specific capital amount being raised in the provided slides.
Introduction and Context
The senSMS pitch deck, titled "Projet Gollere" and dated November 11, 2010, is a localized response to the global social media boom of the late 2000s. At a time when Facebook and Twitter were scaling rapidly in the West, emerging markets like Senegal faced infrastructure hurdles that made traditional web-based social networking difficult. This deck outlines a plan to bridge that gap by utilizing the most ubiquitous technology available at the time: SMS.
Slide 1: Title Slide
The opening slide is minimalist, featuring the project name "Projet Gollere" and the date "11 novembre 2010" . There is no company logo or tagline on this page, though the header "senSMS" appears on subsequent slides. The use of a project name suggests the company may have been in the very early stages of formation or was a project within a larger entity at the time of the presentation.
Slide 3: The Case for SMS
This slide, titled "SMS c’est le meilleur choix" (SMS is the best choice), establishes the market reality in Senegal. The founders present a compelling data point: 7.5 million SMS users versus fewer than 500,000 computers and data-capable mobiles. The slide argues that SMS is the superior choice because it allows for real-time interactivity without needing a computer, requires no computer literacy, and is a proven revenue-generating service. It explicitly states that the lack of infrastructure and low purchasing power are brakes on internet development, making SMS the most adapted technology for Africa.
Slide 5: The Social Evolution
Titled "Le monde devient social" (The world is becoming social), this slide uses a horizontal axis to show the transition from "1.0" to "2.0." It places legacy brands like Yahoo, MSN, and Blogger on the left, while positioning Skype, Google Mobile, Twitter, and Facebook toward the right. senSMS is placed at the far right (2.0), suggesting that it represents the next evolution of communication by bringing social dynamics to the SMS protocol.
Slide 7: The Web Interface
Slide 7, "Site web," shows a screenshot of the platform and lists user capabilities. The platform allowed users to register, create groups, invite members, and send SMS to those groups for free. It also featured a discussion history and profile management. The visual shows a video or image of a family, emphasizing the social and personal nature of the service. The call to action button on the site is "S'inscrire!" (Sign up!).
Slide 9: Economic Model
The "Model économique" slide breaks down the business into six pillars. Prix de l’SMS notes there is no surcharge for messages sent to the senSMS number. MO : MT specifies a target ratio of 1:7 (Mobile Originated to Mobile Terminated messages). Publicité (Advertising) involves sharing revenue with operators and selling ad space. FreeWeb2SMS is intended to stimulate discussion and allow participation without credit. Rev. Sharing proposes a percentage of revenue from generated SMS, and Communication involves shared promotion and communication costs with partners.
Slide 11: Viral Expansion
The "Extension viral" slide explains the growth engine. It posits that users will create their own groups, and the company will facilitate and encourage this to drive viral growth. A key point is that there is no limit on the number of groups a user can create or belong to. The visual aid shows a branching tree of nodes, representing the exponential growth of the user base through social circles.
Slide 13: Launch Sequence
The final provided slide, "Séquence de lancement," provides a three-phase roadmap. The first phase includes product development, web development, company creation, and a closed beta pilot. The second phase focuses on the operator deal, beta launch, promotion, and the development of Version 2.0. The third phase targets advertising sales, new product development, coverage extension, and finally, "Extension international."
What Works in This Deck
Clear Market Gap: The deck does an excellent job of quantifying the opportunity. By contrasting 7.5 million SMS users with only 500,000 PC users, the founders make a data-driven argument for why an SMS-based social network is the right product for the specific geography and time period (Slide 3).
Logical Progression: The slides follow a standard narrative arc: market problem, technological solution, product features, business model, and roadmap. This makes the pitch easy to follow for a potential investor.
Revenue Realism: Instead of inventing a new currency, the deck leans into existing telecom behaviors. By focusing on the MO:MT ratio and revenue sharing with operators, the founders show they understand how money actually moved in the 2010 African telecom ecosystem (Slide 9).
What Is Missing
The Team: There is no slide introducing the founders. In early-stage investing, the 'who' is often more important than the 'what.' Without knowing if the team has technical expertise or telecom industry connections, the project feels like a concept rather than a business.
Competitive Landscape: While the deck compares itself to global giants like Facebook and Twitter, it fails to mention local competitors or the risk of mobile network operators (MNOs) launching their own similar services. In 2010, MNOs held significant power over the SMS gateway.
The Ask: The deck concludes the roadmap without a specific funding request. A pitch deck needs to state how much capital is required, the valuation (or at least the terms), and exactly how that capital will be deployed to reach the milestones on Slide 13.
Unit Economics: While the 1:7 ratio is mentioned, the deck lacks a breakdown of the cost per SMS versus the expected ad revenue per message. Without these figures, the sustainability of the 'FreeWeb2SMS' feature is unclear.
Founder Takeaways
Context is King: If you are building for a specific region, use local data to prove the necessity of your product. The contrast between SMS and PC usage on Slide 3 is the strongest part of this deck because it justifies the existence of the product in a way that global trends cannot.
Visualizing Growth: Slide 11's viral loop is a good way to show how a product scales. Founders should always include a visual representation of their 'flywheel' or growth engine to show that user acquisition isn't just a marketing expense, but a built-in feature of the product.
Phased Roadmaps: The horizontal chevron style used on Slide 13 is a clean way to show a multi-year plan. It allows investors to see the immediate next steps (Closed Beta) alongside the long-term vision (International Extension) without cluttering the slide with specific dates that might become inaccurate.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the primary market problem senSMS aimed to solve?
- In 2010, Senegal faced a significant digital divide. Slide 3 notes that while 7.5 million people used SMS, fewer than 500,000 had access to computers or data-enabled mobiles. The high cost of internet and lack of infrastructure acted as a brake on development. senSMS aimed to use the low-resource, high-penetration SMS channel to provide social networking capabilities that usually required a robust internet connection.
- How did senSMS plan to make money?
- According to Slide 9, the economic model was three-fold: advertising, revenue sharing, and communication fees. They intended to share advertising revenue with telecom operators and sell ad space directly. Additionally, they sought a percentage of the revenue from SMS generated by the service. The deck also mentions 'FreeWeb2SMS' to stimulate discussion, suggesting a freemium or ad-supported model for users.
- What are the specific features of the senSMS web platform?
- Slide 7 details the web interface functionality. Users could sign up, learn the service mechanics, create groups, and invite members. Crucially, it allowed users to send SMS to their groups for free and view their discussion history. It also included profile management and the ability to view friends' profiles, mimicking standard social network features of the era.
- What was the projected growth strategy for the platform?
- The growth strategy was based on 'Extension viral' (Slide 11). The company planned to encourage users to create their own groups without limits on the number of groups or members. By facilitating these social clusters, they expected the network to expand organically. The roadmap on Slide 13 shows this progressing from a local 'Closed Beta' to 'Promotion' and eventually 'International extension'.
- What critical information is missing from this pitch deck?
- The provided slides omit several standard venture requirements. There is no 'Team' slide to establish credibility, no 'Competition' slide to show how they differ from local telco offerings, and no 'Financial Ask' slide stating how much money they need or how it will be spent. Furthermore, there are no specific user growth targets or detailed unit economics beyond the 1:7 message ratio.
