I'll be honest — we didn't start as a product company.
JCS has been doing IT services for 15+ years.
Staff aug, custom dev, the usual. Good business.
Predictable. Not particularly exciting.
About 8 months ago we started noticing something.
Every client we worked with — agencies, D2C brands,
consultants — had the same problem. WhatsApp was
their primary customer channel but their entire
setup was manual. No automation. No unified inbox.
No API layer that actually worked across providers.
So we built one.
We called it Jina Connect. A WhatsApp MCP server
that unifies WATI, Gupshup, Twilio and Meta Direct
into a single API. One integration. Switch providers
without touching your backend code.
Where we are now
The product works. We've tested it internally and
with a handful of clients.
But we're an IT services company trying to find
PMF for a SaaS product. That's a different muscle
entirely and we're feeling it.
What we think we know:
- Digital marketing agencies managing 10+ clients on WhatsApp are the most obvious fit
- D2C brands running Meta ads where leads land on WA with no follow-up are close second
- The "unified API" pitch resonates with developers but less so with agency owners who just want it to work
What we're unsure about:
- Whether to go direct to brands or through agencies
- Whether the aggregator angle is the right hook or if we should lead with a specific use case
- How to sell this without a sales team
Why I'm posting this
Not to pitch. Genuinely to think out loud and
hear from people who've navigated this —
especially the services-to-product transition.
If you've built something in the WhatsApp /
messaging API space, or if you're an agency
that manages WhatsApp for clients, I'd love
to hear what actually matters to you.
Happy to share more as we go.
— Tapan
Co-founder
JCS / Jina Connect
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