Re:The WhatsApp Story Challenges Some of the Valley’s Conven...
by IanCal on Monday February 24, 2014 @06:12AM
(#7290170)
Oh bloody hell. I'm tired of this "Oh but they did X and Y!!!! That's the magic key!"
They did this, in order of importance:
1) They built something that solved a problem.
2) They sold it at a price that the people were willing to pay for that problem to be solved.
3) They built something with powerful network effects, drawing in new users & keeping old ones.
Ian's magic guide to making money by building things:
1) Build things that people will pay for
2) Sell it to those people
ADVANCED COURSE (DLC - send payments to 1QKocu7qqiSGbmaviR4aFVTq3zVWtvdFiA )
3) Charge more than it costs you
4) Charge no more than those people are willing to pay
Astoundingly, I've missed off things like "be mobile first" or "don't be mobile first" or even "it should have been built in this city". I've also managed to not dwell on the language anything like that. Turns out, having loads of people pay you money for a service somehow makes a good business! WHO COULD POSSIBLY HAVE FORESEEN THAT? TIME TO CHANGE ALL OUR PRECONCEPTIONS!
> I’m not suggesting we throw out all the rules and engage in chaos. But, it is a good time to reexamine them.
If a business that makes a profit and has nearly 6% of the global population as active users (and growing, it seems) being bought for a lot of money is shocking then I cannot fathom what world you live in.
They did this, in order of importance:
1) They built something that solved a problem.
2) They sold it at a price that the people were willing to pay for that problem to be solved.
3) They built something with powerful network effects, drawing in new users & keeping old ones.
Ian's magic guide to making money by building things:
1) Build things that people will pay for
2) Sell it to those people
ADVANCED COURSE (DLC - send payments to 1QKocu7qqiSGbmaviR4aFVTq3zVWtvdFiA )
3) Charge more than it costs you
4) Charge no more than those people are willing to pay
Astoundingly, I've missed off things like "be mobile first" or "don't be mobile first" or even "it should have been built in this city". I've also managed to not dwell on the language anything like that. Turns out, having loads of people pay you money for a service somehow makes a good business! WHO COULD POSSIBLY HAVE FORESEEN THAT? TIME TO CHANGE ALL OUR PRECONCEPTIONS!
> I’m not suggesting we throw out all the rules and engage in chaos. But, it is a good time to reexamine them.
If a business that makes a profit and has nearly 6% of the global population as active users (and growing, it seems) being bought for a lot of money is shocking then I cannot fathom what world you live in.