Brad McCarty

FullContact for Gmail — Your Gmail Contacts. On steroids.

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Brad Feld
Disclosure: I'm an investor and on the board. I'm also obsessed with this program (previously, I was an investor in Gist which was acquired by RIM, but had something similar, but not nearly as good.) I've been using this for six months. It's indispensable. Try it. Feedback welcome!
Andy O'Dower
@bfeld I've known of these guys from pitching at events with them back in 2010. They know their shit inside and out with contact information. Really happy to see this out!
Daniël W. Crompton
@bfeld I removed it after it asked for my username and password without me being able to verify who was asking, looked too much like phishing to me.
Kipp Chambers
@webhat Thanks for the comment! We use Google's native Chrome User Authentication platform to power the 'Sign in with Google' functionality. We understand the concerns, and are looking into ways we can create a better sign-in interface within a Chrome app that shows the official Google URL, rather than using Google's native Chrome interface. Until then, you can always create an account using your email address at https://www.fullcontact.com, then use that account to sign into the FullContact for Gmail extension. Thanks again for the feedback!
Jay Neely
I had just uninstalled Vibe and was despairing of finding a useful Rapportive replacement. Glad I came on ProductHunt today.
Anoop Kansupada
Is there plans to have a LinkedIn sync? If it did this I would have the ultimate Rapportive replacement.
Brad McCarty
@Dapprly We feel your pain. Unfortunately LinkedIn seems to be closing down its walls to all but a few select partners (such as Microsoft and Salesforce). We know that there are some other, smaller services that have LinkedIn sync, but that's because they can exist within LinkedIn's tiny API limits. That's something that we can't do, and it's a good problem to have. But please know that we're constantly looking at ways to work with LinkedIn and make sure that you have access to your data
Pieter Walraven
@Dapprly @BradMcCarty Is it possible to import contacts from a csv? I'm asking as LI does allow you to export your contacts (with very limited information/columns though)
Brad McCarty
@Dapprly @PieterPaul Absolutely. If you log in to app.fullcontact.com that is actually the method that we recommend for LinkedIn.
Pieter Walraven
@Dapprly @BradMcCarty Got it! Will do right now :)
Micah Baldwin
Interesting product - assuming that the intent here is to replace the rapportive-style right rail. Some general product conversation: * Works on a single gmail account? Tried to use it on my gmail + Gapps, but it is only appearing on the gmail account. * As an at-a-glance product, it has a positive level of value (unsure of why the male/female designation, other than to showcase a FullContact capability) * As an action based product, it begins to fail for me. Any email add-on needs to directly impact the effectiveness of my email workflow (make it easier to send/process email). Unless I am getting a ton of email from people I don't know (my volume from unknowns is medium at best), the additional information doesn't solve any persistent problems. I would love to see a product like this attack the efficiency problem. Make it easier for me to write/send/organize email (Gmail is tough because its built on the concept of search & labels). Perhaps a simple - when you email person X, you usually include persons Y&Z. Or a list of recent conversations I had with the specific contact. Solid effort and a product a company like FullContact should have.
Tori Bunte
The tool tips once you've connected your account aren't aligned with anything. Is the gmail screenshot supposed to slide out? It does not. Also, the Chrome Store download button isn't linked. It looks more robust than Rapportive but I don't want to use a separate interface to view my contacts. Plus, it hasn't plugged in any of my Gmail contacts - is this because there's only a 1x day sync with the free account? The missing link to the Chrome plugin is enough for me to drop off without actually adopting the product. Hope they get that fixed.
Brad McCarty
@stttories Hi Tori - The screenshot isn't supposed to slide, because the right side is what we're showing. Also, the Chrome Store link works for me. Mind giving a refresh? I'll let the product guys speak to the tool tips. Or a screenshot would be ideal, so I can make sure we're talking about the same thing.
Tori Bunte
@BradMcCarty How can I have that initial page show up again when I've already clicked out of it? Seems like a first-time user splash. The tool tips seemed out of place - highlighting the time stamp when talking about adding contacts, etc. Edit - the tool tips are correct inside the actual app, but it seems like you're using the same tool tips (with different context) on the Gmail screenshotsplash page with the Chrome download link.
Brad McCarty
@stttories Ah, I see what's going on. At least I think so. It sounds like you're in the app at app.fullcontact.com rather than using the Chrome extension inside your Gmail. Is that right?
Tori Bunte
@BradMcCarty Yes, because the first-time user app.fullcontact.com screen shows the tooltips with a gmail screenshot and a download button to get the chrome extension that doesn't actually work for me, in chrome.
Brad McCarty
@stttories Makes sense. I've got the web app team looking into it. Thanks for the heads up.
Marc Mezzacca
Any comparison to both Rapportive and RelateIQ chrome plugins?
Chris Conrey
@mmezzacca Rapportive now only shows LinkedIn data whereas FullContact will show you FB/Twitter/etc. Also access to the company information when relevant. RelateIQ obviously only works if you're using their product.
Jason Dainter
@mmezzacca @conrey correct me if I'm wrong but rapportive *does* show you twitter information. At least I just tested it now with a random contact and the twitter info comes up just fine. I've been scanning through here but I'm struggling to see the main selling point for this over Rapportive, (I'm a fairly light user and basically use the gmail chrome plugin to add people to linkedin, sometimes twitter, quickly). Why use this over Rapportive?
Kipp Chambers
@mmezzacca @conrey @jasondainter Great question, Jason. You're correct: Rapportive *does* show Twitter and Facebook profile links - but only when the person has posted them to their LinkedIn profile. It's now 100% LinkedIn-centric - so whatever's not in LinkedIn is no longer accessible. By comparison, FullContact can pull in publicly-available social profile links from all social networks - as well as related websites, company info, and Twitter/Facebook/Instagram streams. Additionally, FullContact for Gmail lets you add all the data shown to your Google Contacts - as well as adding notes and tags to keep them organized. Rapportive once had a note-taking feature, but LinkedIn disabled it this summer when they deprecated Raplet support. In short: - More complete information - Ability to manage contacts and add your own notes - Data portability
Jason Dainter
@mmezzacca @conrey @lloyddobbler Thanks for the reply Kipp. Makes sense and I didn't realise the twitter account was powered by linkedins own data, that would certainly be a downside (and upside for using FullContact). Keep up the good work :-)
ayemoah
Yay. Glad to see a Rapportive replacement! Sad to uninstall Rapportive but it really wasn't of much use anymore.
Brad McCarty
@ayemoah Thanks Moah!
Joel Andren
This looks nice, but why on earth are you including Klout scores?
Brad McCarty
@joelandren Hah! Hey Joel - Great question. You might be surprised at how many people actually really like Klout scores as a way of triaging email importance. It's also a quick way to find out the interests of another person by visiting their Klout profile and seeing their topics.
Julian
@joelandren @BradMcCarty is this customisable? Don't care about Klout t.b.h.
Brad McCarty
@joelandren @JulianGijsen Not yet, but soon.
Mike Acler
Without proper LinkedIn integration it's no Rapportive replacement ;-( I need to see business info about people, I am not interested in their messages or tweets so much...
Brad McCarty
@uxboy We feel your pain, Michal. It's definitely something that we're trying to figure out how to do. We need LinkedIn to raise their API limits, and it's a point of contention for a lot of companies.
Julian
@uxboy @BradMcCarty can we signup for an e-mail update when this happens? Would like to switch to FullContact but right now I prefer LinkedIn connection as well.
Brad McCarty
@uxboy @JulianGijsen Absolutely. If you signed up for a FullContact account, you'll get the email when we add new features.
Saul Fleischman
Adding to the Bootstrappers' Tools PH Collection.
djjaron
So I did a little study of the nice right-hand cabinet social snipers.. @Vibe, @ark, @Rapportive, @Ropporto, @360Social, @Sidekick all just got deleted from my collection.. The Hangout Feature is prime in my book..
Kipp Chambers
@jaronrayhinds Glad to hear you like it, Jaron! Do please let us know if there's anything you think could be done better. We're definitely listening to feedback, and want to build a product you all not only love - but that you decide you can't live without.
Ryan Sarver
I've been an avid beta tester for a few months now and LOVE this product. I've tried EVERY contact manager out there and this one has been the best I've tried to-date. It's also constantly updating and improving which I love in products. Kudos to the team.
Kartik Mandaville
The sidebar breaks my left aligned chatbar - are you looking to fix that? Rapportive had something in the email div itself
Brad McCarty
@kar2905 Interesting. Thanks Kartik. We'll take a look.
Justin Mitchell
@kar2905 @BradMcCarty Here's what I see when i use the app. Could be an odd combination of various extensions+my particular gmail layout. http://take.ms/u1qHn
Björn
@kar2905 @BradMcCarty @itsthisjustin right-side chat (labs) and this don't play well together - bummer
Joe Blau
@kar2905 @BradMcCarty @itsthisjustin @bjorntastic That's what I noticed. I had to disable right-side chat so I could see this plugin.
Brad McCarty
@kar2905 @itsthisjustin @bjorntastic Gotta say that I'm surprised by the number of people who use right side chat. We're already looking at ways around this.
Greg Meyer
Nifty implementation. Also biased because this reminds me of Gist ;) Like it!
Eric Metelka
What are your plans for mobile? I know there was the Cobook acquisition. I also wonder how you envision how the jobs to be done differ on mobile vs. within gmail vs. within browser app.
Brad McCarty
@eric3000 iOS is coming very soon, with Android following. FullContact for mobile will be a lot like the web version that you see at http://app.fullcontact.com but in a very friendly format. We've been testing it internally for a couple of months and it's almost ready to go out to the public.
Malcolm Ong
Great to see something like this since I loved Rapportive (as many people did). Did you guys develop this before or after their acquisition? Also, how does this compare to other alternatives, such as Ark? (https://www.ark.com/)
Brad McCarty
@malcolmcasey Thanks for the question, Malcolm. We started working on this after the acquisition, somewhere around the time that LinkedIn removed Raplets and Notes from Rapportive. We could have rushed it out the door but we wanted it to be great rather than fast. As for competing products, there are quite a few great ones for sure. Ark looks very good, and we're glad that they're sharing our passion for making you awesome with people. The advantage we have, I'd say, is the ability to work with your Google Contacts rather than just view information about them. Being able to add them to contacts, connect with them via Hangouts, schedule meetings, add more profile data and then sync all of it back to Google is pretty powerful, we think. In the end, it comes down to what works best for you. If it's Ark, that's great. Again, we're glad that they're around. But of course, we genuinely hope (and think) that your choice will be FullContact.
Malcolm Ong
@BradMcCarty Awesome, thanks. Tighter integration with Google will be a huge plus. Will give it a try!
Benjamin Hoffman
@BradMcCarty what type of feedback have you received about FC playing nicely with other gmail extensions? right now I am running Rapportive + Discoverly + Sidekick + native gmail info. but when i install FC it basically whipped out all the aforementioned - they stopped working. Believe it or not, each provide some info that the others do not. Rap - provides LI info Discoverly - provides all social profiles Sidekick - provides pixel tracking native gmail - provides any info/history regarding my emails If you have a brief second, I was hoping you could address whether many people have also had trouble getting FC to play nicely with other gmail extensions.
Brad McCarty
@benhoffman_ Hey Ben - Great question, and let me start by apologizing for the negative experience. That's not what we want to have happen. You're not alone in finding that FullContact for Gmail butts heads with some other extensions. Not all of them, but a few. You've pointed out some that we weren't aware of, however, so I'll add them to the list of extensions that we're finding ways to work with. We knew that, day 1, we had to launch with a product that worked great by itself. From there it was a matter of finding out what the most used extensions were, by people who would also use FC for Gmail, and then finding ways to coexist with them. It's definitely a work in progress, but we've been releasing updates almost daily to make this happen. So rest assured, we're working on sharing the sandbox, because ultimately we just want you to be able to be awesome with people. If these 5 tools help you to do that, then we want to make sure that you can use them.
Kipp Chambers
@micah Great feedback, Micah - thanks! Some specifics: * Multiple Gmail accounts - It's in the works. Definitely a pain point we plan to solve. * Action-based product - we've already started to address this with the integration of Google Hangouts and calendar invites. But you're right - there's a lot more we can do. This is only the beginning. The lowest-hanging fruit we wanted to address was giving you more context on the people you interact with in Gmail - without leaving your inbox. But there's definitely more to come.
Fletcher Richman
Love the ease of adding someone to my contacts :)
Ben Lang
Top Product
Been waiting so long for a Rapportive replacement. Thank you FullContact!