
At various points in my career, I flirted with the idea of creating a startup, but I never felt like I had an idea that was actually ‘good’ enough to be worth pursuing. For my last 2 years at Meta, I think I subconsciously wanted to be a product manager.
With Texxa, that finally happened. Texxa is the idea that finally got me to create an LLC, and not because I thought it would be a business success, but because it filled a legitimate need and was something I wanted, and was something that ought to be available to others.
Texxa – the first general-purpose SMS-based AI assistant for satellite/2G networks
- Texxa brings AI to people without a reliable data connection, with reduced equipment requirements:
- Outdoorsy-types in the backcountry with a satellite connection on their phone or existing satellite devices
- People in remote areas, on boats, …
- There are 2.5 billion feature phone users globally (particularly in emerging markets) who cannot install AI apps and often have only a 2G connection with no data
- No app, account, or internet needed.
- Texxa connects them all to the broader internet by using SMS text messaging on common phones over ultra low-bandwidth satellite and edge networks to an LLM-powered AI agent with access to realtime data, such as:
Texxa enables reliable access to AI-powered messaging, search, and more for users in connectivity-challenged regions, addressing real-world edge cases and infrastructure constraints.
It also demonstrates use of LLM as semantic compression to transmit sizeable amounts of information within SMS constraints (160 chars/message).
The Product
Try it yourself!
The Tech (WIP)
I had the opportunity to learn SO many things, all made possible by the use of AI, whether learning about technologies, brainstorming use cases, architecting + coding + debugging a system, and so much more. I’m not a professional software engineer, but I loved diving into this space.
The Journey
Real talk: Creating something from nothing, and putting it out into the (often harsh and unforgiving) world is very vulnerable. Most people didn’t really get it, other people criticized it, but enough people did get it and loved it, to keep me going.
It would be great to get a report ahead of time for peaks down the trail so you can plan safe climbs…That’s an amazing tool to be able to make safety decisions. This is so clever!
– u/GraceInRVA804
Waterflow data is critical beta for whitewater rafting/kayaking. A difference of a few hundred CFS can make a significant difference for how hard different rapids are.
– u/PartTime_Crusader
I don’t think I realized just how critical data on weather and conditions is for safety in the backcountry. Improving access to information can literally prevent people from getting into life-or-death situations.
If you’re not getting 1 user per day telling you this is life-changing, you’re not pushing hard enough.
And of course, this whole experience was the sum of many conversations… Thank you to so many people for your support, inspiration, reciprocal crazy ideas…
- Tabitha
- Justin
- Aaron
- Everan
- Russell
- Liesel
- Mike
- Gabor
- Min
- David