Wed, 01 Sep 2004
Friendster caught in the Chasm
Crossing the chasm
is possibly THE book to read on marketing and selling in tech start ups,
I've done three of them and it gets really disturbing to sit in the office
and say "Oh no, we're entering chapter two."; it really is that
insightful.
One of the basic premises from the book is that technical adoption follows a pattern, firstly you get innovators and early adopters. These are followed by the pragmatists, the conservatives and eventually the luddites. You may ask "How's this relevant to the title of this entry?" Friendster seems to be unaware of this books content but in a new and exciting way. Many times companies have floundered trying to get out of a niche market and grow but Friendster haven't even managed to make the obvious mistake, instead they alienated the innovators and early adopters.
Social software is a new and emerging technology, it's main champions are smart, literate people such as 'troutgirl' and the hordes of tech bloggers flinging enthusiasm and free PR at the existing services. Friendster seems to have missed the importance of this market and has shot itself in the foot before it even reached the edge of the chasm. If I could remember the details of my account I'd cancel it and never even miss it, for now I'll settle for writing this.
Note: I don't have an Amazon affiliate link so I make no money from that book link. Sometimes I'm dumb like that :)
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Posted: 2004/09/01 19:09 | /geekstuff | Permanent link to this entry | This entry and same date
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