9 Aug 2010

Finding the G spot

There are two types of social apps. The ones that crave for users, and pursue any option (features, dev, PR, marketing, R&D, acquisition, ...) to get them, and the others, who crave for server power and load balancing to handle the massive flow of new users.

We all want to be in the second category. Those apps have found the growth spot, the startup "G" spot. 

Bold assessment : there's nothing new being invented on the web. Every new service coming out is essentially an iteration on something existing - not a breakthrough but an s-curve innovation. Any experienced entrepreneur will tell you that whether you're the first or the hundredth to have had this cool idea you cherish, it doesn't matter. What matters is finding what I call the startup G spot. 

A case in point : for one Foursquare, going from 0 to 2M members in less than 2 years, you have a hundred competitors, craving to reach their first 10,000 users. 

John Gruber says that it's not about "being first", but "being first to do it right". So what does it mean to "do it right" ? I think it's the result of a perfect mix of features (cool? new? sexy? fun? ...), intrinsic elements (well known founders? location? investors? ...), early adopters/users (you mother or @ceonyc and @fredwilson?) and of course execution. 

  1. Features is what makes your product. You have the general guiding idea, your core competency, your mission. But how do you go from there to being unique? Is their audience mainstream? Are they sexy? Are the marginal features well integrated with core features? It's the basic of your product strategy, and your most important choices.
  2. Intrinsic elements define the DNA: how many founders, what's their experience, what's their network? Are they well known? What's the level of their social proof and roots in the tech scene? Where are you located: in Silicon Valley or Bourg-en-Bresse? How's the startup ecosystem there? Will there be influential twitterers and bloggers around you can hang out with? Are you close to investors?
  3. Early adopters is way more important than you might think. Is your product built for someone influential? You of course built a product that solves a specific problem you have. Who shares this problem? Is it a guy with 80K+ followers and 75K uniques per week on his blog that claims it publicly or is it you mother who talks about it at the hairdresser?
  4. Execution is key and nothing will succeed without a clear (fast, public, flexible, ...) execution path.
You also must be interesting. Yes, meaningless buzz word, but if you're not "interesting" (i.e. new, different, sexy, seductive), who will remember you? An interesting read on the subject is the Startup lessons from lady gaga by Amir Khella. Being interesting results in having your visitors and users think "Hmm, finally something different that I get, that gets me, that I wanna explore further and talk about". Think about Hunch: once you linked your accounts, their suggestions are pretty accurate in some categories. It makes you feel that their's something underneath, it tickles your curiosity. You become interested in knowing more.

So finding the G spot is not only a matter of strategic vision and decision. It's also a matter of chance. Will you be the new Silicon Valley darling? Who knows what made the initial difference between Pownce, Jaiku, Status.net and Twitter ? What made (is making?) the difference between Plyce, Gowalla, MyTown and Foursquare? You can do your best to do it right, it will only do 80% of the job.

Finding the G(rowth) spot has been our daily routine for the last months at SubMate. We've discussed many (like, MANY!) options and found something that users love, and that we're REALLY excited about. It's in the works now, and Clément, Axel and Kevin are working their asses off to pull it off the ground. Expect it for September!