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Jan Koum and Brian Acton: The unlikely founders behind WhatsApp's rise

New York: WhatsApp isn't your average Silicon Valley startup.The company's founders Jan Koum, 38, and Brian Acton, 42, shun the media spotlight and are much older than your typical college dropout-turned CEO. And at a

India TV News Desk Updated on: March 06, 2014 8:53 IST



The whopping $19 billion that Facebook is paying for the service is also unusual, even as other startups with no profit, or even revenue, are commanding sky-high valuations.

Koum and Acton are at the center of the largest buyout deal ever for a venture-backed company. How did two former Yahoo engineers who witnessed the late 90s dot-com boom - and bust - create the world's hottest app and make 10-year-old Facebook seem a tad grizzled?

"Jan keeps a note from Brian taped to his desk that reads "No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!' It serves as a daily reminder of their commitment to stay focused on building a pure messaging experience," wrote Sequoia Capital partner Jim Goetz in a blog post about Thursday's deal. Sequoia is WhatsApp's sole venture capital investor.

The Ukraine-born Koum, WhatsApp's CEO, move to the U.S. when he was 16. Acton was born in Michigan.

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