EBS5021 - Managing Innovation and Change: Telegram Feasibility Study

This report presents a feasibility study of Telegram, a cross-platform messaging application. It begins with an introduction to startups and the context of Telegram. The report then delves into Telegram's features, including its encryption capabilities, cloud-based storage, and flexible file sharing, highlighting aspects that differentiate it from competitors like WhatsApp. It explores the background of Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, and his experience with VK. The report also examines the product and service offerings of Telegram, such as cloud-based storage, draft messages, and usernames over numbers. The analysis includes references to relevant sources to support the findings and provide a comprehensive overview of Telegram's feasibility as a startup venture. The report aims to assess the viability and potential of Telegram in the market, considering its unique features and the background of its founder.

Running head: FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF TELEGRAM
Emmanuel Ngoma
Feasibility studies of Telegram
GSB 902776
EBS5021/Managing Innovation and Change.
University of Zambia
Dr. Maja Zelihic
09th January 2022.
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FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF TELEGRAM 2
Introduction
Startups are businesses or initiatives that are designed to bring a single
product or service to market (Grant, 2021). One or so more entrepreneurs form
startups in order to produce a product or service for which they believe there is a
market. These businesses typically begin with significant overhead and low
revenue, which is why they seek funding from a number of sources, including
investment firms (Landau, 2014).
Seed cash can be used by startups to fund research and development of their
company strategies. Industry research identifies the price of a product or service,
whereas a full business plan details the company's stated mission, vision, and
objectives, as well as advertising and leadership strategies. The startup venture we
are going is to look at is Telegram.
Telegram
Telegram is a commonly used cross-platform messaging application that is
popular due to its improved confidentiality and encryption capabilities, as well as
support for big group chats (Johnson, 2021). Therefore, it is unrelated to other
social media platforms, which may attractive to some. In addition to being
available for iOS and Android devices, versions of the program are also available
for Windows and Mac computers and Linux computers.
While end-to-end encryption is Telegram's defining feature, it's critical to

FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF TELEGRAM
understand that not every communication within Telegram is encrypted. Client-to-
server encryption is used for the majority of communications, which is less secure
than end-to-end encryption but makes it easy to find your Telegram chats from
other devices, including the web. You must use Telegram's Secret Chat feature to
get real end-to-end encryption. These private chats provide significantly more
strong protection, which are only accessible from the device from where the
message was sent. Telegram's privacy and security are regarded as credible in part
because the service's Interface is open-source and accessible to any developer for
review and integration.
Telegram Founder
Pavel Durov is the CEO and founder of Telegram, a messaging program that
has gained more than 60 million active users in less than two years since its launch
in 2013. Durov was born in Russia and grew up in the United States. In the years
prior, Pavel developed VK, which has grown to become the most popular social
network in Russia and several other countries, with over 100 million users. Pavel
left Russia and VK in early 2014 to devote his time and energy to the development
of Telegram.
Pavel Durov’s Experience and Personality
Pavel Valerievich Durov is a Russian businessman best known for founding
the social networking site VK and later the Telegram Messenger (ALLEN Career
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FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF TELEGRAM
Institute, 2019). He is Nikolai Durov's younger brother. The Durov brothers have
traveled the world in self-imposed exile as citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis since
being fired as CEO of VK in 2014 (ALLEN Career Institute, 2019). Pavel became
a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders program in 2017
as a representative of Finland.
Pavel Durov was born in the Russian city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg),
but grew up in Turin, Italy. His father Valery (a philologist with a PhD) worked
there. He went to an Italian elementary school and then to the Academy
Gymnasium in St. Petersburg after relocating to Russia in 2001. He obtained his
very first degree from the Saint Petersburg State University's Philology
Department in 2006.
The Durov Code, a book written in Russian, goes into great depth about
Pavel Durov's early life and career. VK and Its Creator: The Real Story (2012).
VKontakte, later known as VK, was founded in 2006 by Durov, who was inspired
by Facebook at the time. The VKontakte website expanded to a $3 billion
valuation during the period he and his brother Nikolai worked on it. In 2011, after
the 2011 Duma elections, the authorities sought the destruction of opposition
leaders' Facebook profiles. Durov posted a photo of a dog with its tongue out
wearing a hoodie and the police departed after an hour when he did not answer the
door (Johnson, 2021).
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FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF TELEGRAM
Telegrams Product and Service
The following are the fundamental aspects of Telegram products and services that
are based on multimedia messaging:
Something different – Meta owns both WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger,
which are used to communicate with one another. Users who want to dissociate
themselves from Facebook or who are concerned about the company's data
exposures over the previous few years may find this to be a source of frustration.
Cloud-based – Due to the fact that all chats are stored in the cloud, you won't have
to worry about backing up your chat data if you transfer devices.
Flexible with files – Users can send videos with a maximum file size of 1.5GB.
This has increased Telegram's popularity among users looking to share videos with
their pals.
Users can even stream the film prior to it downloading completely. This is a
feature not supported by other messaging systems and is one of the primary
reasons Telegram is so popular. Indeed, the most popular Telegram channel is
called HINDI MOVIES, with 3.2 million users.
Draft messages – Users have the ability to save communications in draft mode and
access them from any device they have access to. If you start a message but don't
finish it, this will happen on its own automatically.
Usernames over numbers – Not everyone is comfortable sharing their phone
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FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF TELEGRAM
number, especially with people they’ve just met or with companies they don’t trust
to handle their data responsibly. With Telegram, users can communicate by sharing
their usernames and the other party won’t know your mobile number (Santos &
Saldana, 2021).
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References
ALLEN Career Institute. (2019, May 27). Klipinterest. Retrieved from Pavel
Durov: The entrepreneur known as "Russia' Mark Zuckerberg":
https://www.klipinterest.com/pavel-durov-the-entrepreneur-known-as-
russias-mark-zuckerberg/
Grant, M. (2021, September 15). Startup. Retrieved from Invetopedia:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/startup.asp
Johnson, D. (2021, March 24). What is telegram? A quick guide to the fast and
secure messaging platform. Retrieved from Business Insider Africa:
https://africa.businessinsider.com/tech-insider/what-is-telegram-a-quick-
guide-to-the-fast-and-secure-messaging-platform/my79bz3
Landau, C. (2014, August 18). What;s teh diffrence between a small business and
a startup? Retrieved from Bplans Blog: https://articles.bplans.com/whats-
difference-small-business-venture-startup/
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Santos, M., & Saldana, M. (2021). Subversive affordances as a form of digital
transnational activism: the case of telegram's natuce proxy. Sage Journals,
8-9. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211054830
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