Telegram’s 900 Million Users Powered by Just 30 Full-Time Staff [VIDEO]

The cross-platform and secure messaging app, Telegram, launched back in 2013, from founder Pavel Durov and his broker Nikolai.

Drove has maintained Telegram as a free chatting app that offers end-to-end encryption, while the company does not give in to government requests to ensure its users are able to communicate freely. Pavel revealed the biggest requests don’t come from governments–but rather Apple and Google.

Pavel recently gave a rare interview to Tucker Carlson. He revealed its nearly 1 billion users are powered by just 30 full-time employees, making for a super lean operation. Telegram built up its 900 million users without running a single ad, while Pavel continues to be a hands-on product manager, with the company based in Dubai (Pavel said it’s because Dubai makes it easy to run a business and also is relatively neutral).

In comparison, WhatsApp had 450 million users and 55 employees when it was acquired by Facebook in 2014.

Check out the full interview below: