incub3.org
Tag: Twitter
Big bucks & Bliss in brevity
by Wei Leen on Feb.14, 2009, under Business model, Web2.0
Twitter may be shiny and new, but its finances are reminiscent of the dark age of the dot-com bust. With no revenue or business plan, Twitter is still subsisting on investor capital. Before you think that Twitter is going the way of the web-based dodo, note that VC firms Benchmark Capital and IVP recently pumped $35 million into Twitter and Facebook bid $500 million of its stock for Twitter, reflecting rock solid investor confidence.
So confident is Twitter of its future that it organized its inaugural Shorty Awards in New York recently, honouring remarkable twitterers in categories as varied as food and videogames. People are finding remarkable uses for Twitter beyond its already amazing social value, including controlling home appliances and monitoring your home’s security. There is an excellent chance that some of these uses will ultimately become profitable. Even without these alternative uses, Twitter is already generating ad revenue in Japan, and getting fans from the American Congress and Israeli Consulate. Will we see Twitter bidding for government contracts to disseminate information in the future? Don’t bet against it.
Oh This is Going to be Addictive!!
by HT on Feb.01, 2009, under Business Lessons, Twitter, Web2.0
1. When you have an excellent team, try and try until you succeed - Odeo didn’t, but Twitter sure did
2. For the people – People didn’t understand the value of Twitter till much later, given its lack of a special feature. However, what they missed is the only important feature – People.
3. Keep a record of thoughts – Tweet #38 said “Oh this is going to be addictive” and sure it was. These records make for excellent stories, both in success and in failure.
4. Go for glory – Being B2C, without the huge events that Twitter supported, it couldn’t have gotten the network effect that it currently has
More straight-to-the-point than the article itself, though, is the comments that one of the co-founders, TonyStubblebine wrote:
“… Odeo was made up of a lot of past and mostly present company founders… I think we needed that many rockstars to turn the middling opportunity we had in podcasting into the major opportunity that Twitter has”
Throughout all these start-up stories, it is clear that persistence is one of the few persistent topics. By persistently pursuing dreams and aspirations, one naturally will attract people who are as passionate as they are. While along the way, each one of us may fail in our own projects, but when we keep at it, and find others on the same path to band together, great things are bound to happen.
Never give up pursuing entrepreneurial aspirations – it is going to be addictive!
