The brutal reality of building messaging features

Whenever a team considers adding messaging to their app, I always remind them of the 1970s FedEx tagline: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there.” That’s basically the standard you’re up against. Messaging is the most brutally competitive space on Earth. Replacing a user’s existing chat threads not only requires a miracle—but also 100% delivery rates, feature parity, and the ability to reach every possible contact. There is no margin for error. For small teams, it’s a non-starter: you simply cannot compete. For mature teams, it requires relentless execution to make it even into the Consideration Stage. And ironically, if you succeed, it can often be a net negative to user growth because it leads users to stop distributing your links & content to third-party apps.