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iloubnan.info: What inspired you to create a concept such as Woopra?
Elie Khoury: I had a couple of websites 2 years back. I wanted to know what's happening on my blog/website in real time and I couldn't find a decent web analytics! So I decided to come up with a service which can help me monitor the traffic on my website just like any other non-virtual property. So I introduced Jad Younan (co-founder of Woopra) to this idea and he was very positive. We started thinking bigger right away! The next day we started working on the global architecture for this service knowing that we might have thousands of clients in the future.
What is Woopra exactly? Can Woopra become more than just an analytical software and raid our systems and our privacy?
Yes, our plan is to make Woopra the ultimate webmaster tool. It won't be just analytics right now, it involves real-time tracking which is something a bit different than analytics.
Concerning the privacy issue, we are taking it very seriously. Only the owner of the website can see their stats. And we will not provide any kind of data unless it's required by law.
How can you make sure that Woopra would not go as far as that?
Woopra is designed in a way that a visitor logging on a website will not be recognized on any other. In other words, if a visitor provides some private info on a certain website, these data will not be shared for any purpose with any other party.
Can Woopra go further than tracking or hacking their network or computer privacy?
Oh no! In terms of privacy we won't be tracking more than the actions on the targeted website.
What and who guarantees that?
Today's security and laws will guarantee it.
Why are you launching Woopra in the United States not in Lebanon?
3 months ago, Jad and I decided to release a private beta and invite some serious webmasters to try our system. We were looking for a manager/partner who can take care of the Marketing, business and legal issues. John Pozadzides, a professional in the WWW, was the perfect fit. After several contacts, he became a partner and assigned as CEO of iFusion Labs (our company).
Woopra is the 1st service provided by our company... So, the big turning point was when John P. introduced Woopra in the WordCamp Dallas (a WordPress event) to 200 professional WordPress bloggers. That generated a huge buzz in the US and pushed us to make the beta public and allow almost anyone to sign up to our service and try it out. Layered Tech was the first to notice that buzz and decided to provide us 100 Grid Servers in order to handle this sudden huge number of request. So we are going to the US now to have a closer look on our servers infrastructures, to patent the technology, sign some contracts and attend a Layered Tech conference.
How does it feel to be a young Lebanese man who created such revolutionary software?
Well, I feel so proud. I also wish that all the Lebanese youth will get the chance we had to launch their projects or visions.
When are you preparing to leave for the launching? Are you planning to come back?
We already launched this service but it's still in beta. It will be out of beta by the end of this year if thing go as we expect and we will be in Lebanon by then. The Woopra Headquarters will be in Dallas Texas, but we will have an extension in Lebanon which will be working from. We will then base our work here.
How many webmasters are using Woopra so far? And how can the Lebanese webmasters get in hold of Woopra?
35000 so far. Woopra is for free, all they have to do is log in to www.woopra.com
Any future plans other than Woopra?
Yes, we have some plans for Woopra that I cannot reveal at the moment. In addition to other big ideas that we might start working on as soon as Woopra starts running smoothly...
Would you like to add anything more?
This is the 1st Web 2.0 successful worldwide project to be launched from Lebanon despite the difficulties we had. I would love to see other Lebanese working on such projects... The Lebanese youth hold so much potential which needs to be discovered. Hopefully they will get the chance we had.
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