,
8 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
Are network effects dead?
No - but they’re more dynamic than ever.
New post with @ljin18 on how to think about network effects as the pace of innovation continues to accelerate.
tl:dl thread 👇
a16z.com/2018/12/13/net…
No - but they’re more dynamic than ever.
New post with @ljin18 on how to think about network effects as the pace of innovation continues to accelerate.
tl:dl thread 👇
a16z.com/2018/12/13/net…
Three key questions that can help founders understand, predict and manage their network effects in today's high paced environment:
1) What’s your unique value proposition and how could it evolve?
Almost every concept - from rideshare to social media to bitcoin - has weird kinks to its network effects curve. What’s yours likely to be?
Almost every concept - from rideshare to social media to bitcoin - has weird kinks to its network effects curve. What’s yours likely to be?
2) What kind of users/inventory do you have & how will that change?
For example, differentiated inventory has unique advantages/disadvantages vs commoditized inventory. Or if you're adding mostly contaminants as users you're hurting your future network effects (uhh twitter?).
For example, differentiated inventory has unique advantages/disadvantages vs commoditized inventory. Or if you're adding mostly contaminants as users you're hurting your future network effects (uhh twitter?).
3) What does your ecosystem look like today and tomorrow?
Overlapping networks, multi-tenanting, low switching costs. These are the hidden land mines for a network effect platform. Understanding substitutes available and how likely users are to use/need them is critical.
Overlapping networks, multi-tenanting, low switching costs. These are the hidden land mines for a network effect platform. Understanding substitutes available and how likely users are to use/need them is critical.
This isn’t a eulogy for network effects. They’ll underpin the most important projects of this generation.
But if you don’t build with intentionality & a long-term view of your network effects curve, you could get blindsided. And you’ll be left sitting around asking yourself whether network effects are dead!
We also wrote about the 16 most important metrics to measure -- and keep -- your network effects.
