Planes, Trains and Awkward Texts: The Story of the Latest in Messaging Apps

Q&A with Maci Peterson, Co-Founder & CEO, On Second Thought

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur,” says Maci Peterson, Co-Founder and CEO of messaging recall app, On Second Thought, “it’s always been a part of me.” Maci grew up watching her mother run her own business, which provided her all the inspiration she needed. As a child, Maci would start summer businesses with her cousin, whether it was a car wash or a lemonade stand or selling friendship bracelets. In college she founded and ran a lifestyle magazine with circulation of over 100,000 readers. So it was only natural that when Maci unexpectedly won a business plan competition at SXSW, that she pulled up her bootstraps and went after it. This is what Maci shared with me.

Q. Tell me why you founded On Second Thought. What was the inspiration?

I started On Second Thought because like many people, I fell victim to auto-correct, which would change my words to say something I didn’t want to write. The worst was with an ex-boyfriend who kept calling me and I wasn’t able to pick up any of this calls.

So I text him back and let’s just say that auto-correct changed the meaning of my text. I wanted to take it back, but I couldn’t. I searched for something that would let me retrieve the message, but I couldn’t find anything. So I asked my friends if they’d ever sent a message they wanted to take back, and overwhelmingly they all said yes. One friend even wanted to invest in whatever I had in mind. Around that time, I was sent an email about a pitch competition called #StartupOasis that was taking place at SXSW. They were calling for entries for anything from business ideas to operating businesses. On Second Thought was simply an idea at the time so I thought I might have a shot. I applied and was accepted the Monday before SXSW began. It was an adventure that took a lot of prayer and a series of miracles to complete. All flights from DC to Austin were booked. I ended up flying standby to Houston, drove a rental car to Austin with a girl I met at the airport, crashed at my sorority sister’s apartment, then hitchhiked and shared a cab with total strangers to get to the competition. But I made it and out of 20 companies pitching, my idea for On Second Thought won first place. That was validation that this wasn’t just a good idea, but it was also a viable business.

Q. Can you share with us how it’s going?

It’s going great. We’re working hard on the iPhone version of the app and expect to release that by the end of Q1.

Our Android app has over 60,000 users, and over 3 million messages have been sent using the On Second Thought app. Our users recall 1 in 5 messages. We’ve had great press: AT&T called us the “texting savior” and Inc Magazine recognized us as one of the ‘4 Startups to Watch’ coming out of Google Demo Day.

Q. Do people thank you for saving them from awkward situations?

Many have thanked me, and some have even said there should be a holiday named after me! We get tons of stories about On Second Thought saving people from their mistakes. This company is such fun. Wherever I go, when I tell people what I do, they always have a funny story for me.

Q. Tell me about what influenced you most to become an entrepreneur.

I believe I was born to be an entrepreneur. When I was young, my mom was an entrepreneur. She had a gift basket business called Baskets of Joy. When I was three years old and people asked me what I wanted to be, I would say, a Baskets of Joy lady. What I did not realize, was that I was saying I wanted to be an entrepreneur. It’s something I’ve always done. When I was a child, on hot summer days, my cousin and I would open a car wash or lemonade stand in my parents’ driveway. We’d also make friendship bracelets and sell them to our friends. Even after the Easter egg hunt at my parents’ house, we’d sell our prizes to our younger cousins — our aunts and uncles weren’t too happy about that one! Either way, entrepreneurship has always been a part of me.

Q. What lessons have you learned that have helped you in becoming an entrepreneur. 
 
There are a few things that have helped me. The first is praying often. When you start a company there is a lot you don’t know, especially if you you go into a field where you don’t have a lot of experience. It’s scary to quit your job to go into the unknown. You must have a certain appetite for risk, but you also have to have the faith to step out and pursue the dream. My faith has given me a certain perspective, understanding and confidence to do what I am doing.

The second was crash course about humility. I learned a lot of lessons from the magazine I started in college. I created a publication that had over 130,000 readers. And at the time I was Maci Peterson’s biggest fan. From that, I learned it isn’t all about me. It’s about the greater impact and change I was influencing. The thing to remember is that the success or failure of your company is not reflective of the success or failure of you as an individual. It’s a big thing, a big part of who you are, but it’s important to keep your business and identity separate. I’ll be a success because I’m fulfilling my purpose, not because this company does well.

Finally, entrepreneurship has also given me a lot of perspective. I’m a black, female entrepreneur in a time when there is a lot of focus on diversity. As a result, I get a lot of attention. It means a lot to me when I get a note from a student or a parent that says they’ve read my story and were inspired. There aren’t a lot of us out there, so when younger girls, African Americans or any minority sees someone like me doing what I’m doing, and they’re inspired to live their dreams. That’s very humbling.

Q. You recently moved the company to San Francisco. How is it different from Washington, DC where you started the company?

It’s completely different. I think tech in general, the revolution that we’re seeing right now is the next wave of the Industrial Revolution. Every city is going to find their industry, their specialty and tech is becoming a foundation rather than an industry. All other industries will build their verticals on technology. DC is building a strong industry built on tech, but you see a lot of Government and enterprise and education verticals. Whereas in San Francisco, everything is here, but I believe it is becoming a consumer tech and/or communications hub. DC hasn’t had the volume of successful exits in consumer tech like the Bay Area. So when we’d talk to our mentors and networks in DC, it was akin to asking someone at Johns Hopkins a question that was more suited for someone at AT&T. But when we talk to people in San Francisco, they’ve worked in the space, in communications. They’ve worked for Twitter or Facebook. So for us, it was about the opportunity to accelerate our growth and maximize our potential.

But there are also serendipitous opportunities that occur in San Francisco because everyone here works in the industry. You have a lot of opportunities for casual meetings with other people who work in the industry just because you’re all here. I had a meeting with the founder of 500 Startups that way. Or you can go to a party you happen to run into Mark Zuckerberg’s sister. There are just so many opportunities.

Q. Anything else you would like to share?

Being a founder of a company doesn’t mean I’m special. That’s something of which I constantly remind myself because, especially here in San Francisco, founders are deified. I happened to follow what I believe I was called to do. If you follow your passion, whether you’re an entrepreneur or working for someone else, and that’s part of what you’re meant to do, you will be successful.

About On Second Thought: On Second Thought is a messaging app that lets you take back text messages before they get to the other person.

Get On Second Thought on Google Play