This is a time-limited preview. To hear the full episode, and access the full catalogue of episodes and bonus content, become a Voice Tech Pro Braden Ream is the CEO of Voiceflow, a collaborative design platform for voice app development. Voiceflow is currently responsible for powering one million conversations a month and 6% of the world’s Alexa Skills are built on their platform. 

In this episode, we discover how to build Alexa Skills and Google Actions without coding, using Voiceflow’s drag and drop interface. First off, we dive into conversation design on Voiceflow, the difference between using flowcharts and stateful design, the limitations of Voiceflow versus coding from scratch, and how Braden views the parity gap between what their platform can produce and what you can produce on the core platforms.

We also get into industry topics such as what it is like to build a voice startup in the context of today’s funding, competition, and timing challenges; whether Braden considers voice to be an interface or platform; and his thoughts on the discovery issue and how it can be improved.

You will also hear Braden’s predictions for 2020 – specifically the rise of intent-less voice app structures, the debate about whether apps are the right model for voice interfaces, and then he shares how he has managed to build such a strong community.

For the Voice Tech Pro listeners, there are a number of bonus questions that reveal more about Braden’s background and the advice he has for newcomers, so be sure to sign up as a Voice Tech Pro at voicetechpodcast.com/pro.

Highlights

●     Available at http://bit.ly/voicetechpodcast-ep063 

Quotes from the show

[05:56] Designers can collaborate right from the start

[25:26] The industry is more collaborative. It doesn’t make sense for two startups to compete.

[32:30] Monetization is a symptom of poor discovery

Links to click

• Voice Connected Business EU conference << 30% off code: VoiceTech30EU
• Robocopy Conversation Design Course << 25% off with this link
• Voice Tech Pro listener upgrade << no ads, early access, bonus content
• Voice of the Car Summit << 30% off with VOICETECHCARL
• Braden Ream on LinkedIn
• Braden Ream on Twitter
• Voiceflow
• Voiceflow on Twitter
• Voice Tech Podcast (Pro) 
• Project Voice Awards
• American Cancer Society
• Annapurna Pictures 
• Missing Link
• Alexa
• The New York Times
• Matchbox
• More Than Just Weather & Music: 200 Ways to Use Alexa 
• Wired