Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

For companies in the early-adopter phase, you can play "the earlyvangelist game" whenever a customer turns out to be too mainstream for your product. Pick a similar product that they do use, and ask them "who was the first person you know who started using [social networking, mobile phones, plasma TV, instant messaging.]?

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 133

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

For example, if any of the mobile ad networks gets major traction, they may become a dominant way that people discover new apps. On the iPhone, it seems that two are driving most of the installs: the "newest apps" RSS feed (which may be combined with PR) and a primitive form of SEO, when people search the App Store for a specific kind of app.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Retention SEM 68

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

For a lot of brands, their iPhone products will run into the line-extension trap (see The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing ). So there is an opportunity to build new brands with attributes like "the most amazing mobile apps" but I think building a company around that strategy means really thinking through how to do it.

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2008

This is especially important for teenagers, because it allows them to participate in products without having to go through the complex negotiation with their parents that a subscription usually requires. If you go this route, be prepared to make money a dollar at a time, and to work with lots and lots of payment vendors.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68