Well, not exactly, but I got your attention. I told this to a client recently - mostly as a wake up call. Here's why: Every other client - even some of my friends - are talking about this or that social network (SN) Internet idea they have. I'm generally an optimistic person (I've even been called overly-optimistic); however, I'm a bit tired of it now. If you - or someone you know - are spending a lot of time thinking about starting your own Internet SN, here's a few thing you might want to consider...
1. Do you have something people will pay $14.50/month for? A high
percentage of SN ventures fail because of reliance on advertising
business models and/or weak value propositions to subscribers.
Advertising mixed with people-driven networks is very hard to do right.
Trust is everything in SN. If it's raining ads, does it breed trust?
2. Simple fact: Most people do not spend much time online “socializing” – they spend most of their time online trying to get something done (before, you disagree - think about it). After the excitement of "meeting new people" wears off, few SN sites get anything done for anyone and that’s why so many fail.
3. I did some work for Ryze a few years before MySpace and right after Friendster
came on the scene. I went to the events. I networked and I met some
nice people, some that even became my friends. The problem was that
Ryze developed an identity crisis. It wasn't business networking (LinkedIn)
and it wasn't dating (I think that's what the others "do.") Identity
crisis is difficult to overcome. It requires a complete rethink of your
concept, business model, and brand identity. Also, it requires making
hard choices in your organization and sometimes betting on the unknown.
(Typical early stage start-up issues really).
Now, I really do encourage that you start your own social network. Start with a theme camp at Burningman. That way, you can't make it into a business. Keep it clean.
Later this week, I'll explain why I think MySpace will loose. Didn't see that one coming? Good.
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