Horrible translations make hilarious BuzzFeed listicles. They also create real hurdles and headaches for companies doing business overseas.
"Language translation has always been thought of as this large, time consuming process. Many smaller companies don’t want to take it on,” Ryan Frankel, CEO and Cofounder of
said. “We want to show startups and medium sized businesses that it’s easy to translate their app or product overnight.”
VerbalizeIt makes it easy to get high-quality translation services online. Simply upload what you need translated and they'll connect you with someone in your industry that speaks the language. If you need a legal document in Urdu, they've got you covered. Curious if your app would be popular in Beijing? They've got Mandarin-speaking techies.
In fact, the company has a network of over 30,000 vetted translators with expertise in all sorts of industries. Combined, they speak 150 languages.
It turns out that building such a diverse network that large is no easy feat.
“We've had no shortage of mistakes and hurdles,” Frankel said. “Just bringing on someone who speaks a language isn’t enough. Not only do we need to test their language skills, we also need them to know an industry."
Every industry has its own parlance. If you've ever read the legalese you're forced to sign when you upgrade your iPhone software, you know what I mean. Imagine having this one line of that agreement translated by someone who didn't have experience translating legal documents:
"SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATIONS ON APPLICABLE STATUTORY RIGHTS OF A CONSUMER, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU."
VerbalizeIt wasn't actually started to translate business documents though. In 2012, the company was created as a way for travelers to have quick access to translation services. But, after completing a Techstars program in Boulder, the company realized they needed to pivot.
"We realized that the economics of that model just didn't work," Frankel said. "But, we found that we were perfectly positioned to take on the $40 billion business translation services market."
Today the company has six full time employees in New York and plans on spending 2016 helping companies avoid faux pas like this:
