The Equity Kicker - Latest Comments in Lessons from Betfair about getting a consumer internet start-up to critical mass

Re: Lessons from Betfair about getting a consumer internet start-up to critical mass

Swing Trading — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:36:20 -0000

Insightful read. I have just bookmarked this at stumbleupon. Hope others find it as interesting as I did.

Re: Lessons from Betfair about getting a consumer internet start-up to critical mass

Cheapest Digital Camera — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:50:45 -0000

Nice post, glad I found it as the principles behind the niche aspect can be applied to different avenues of Internet Marketing. Got me thinking :) Thanks.

Re: Lessons from Betfair about getting a consumer internet start-up to critical mass

leafar — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:54:15 -0000

Excellent Post !
Your doing the start-up review thing. It should be an obligation for every Vcs.
But If i may, Flickr is just for guy having a digital camera and last.fm was a radio (listen free music -very close to what you wanted-)

And I agree with Nissan on his 3 points.

Re: Lessons from Betfair about getting a consumer internet start-up to critical mass

nic — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:49:35 -0000

Thanks Nisan. Your guide is a good one - both as a blueprint for a service and as a guide to strategy.

Re: Lessons from Betfair about getting a consumer internet start-up to critical mass

Nisan Gabbay — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:17:16 -0000

Hi Nic,

Nice post - and thanks for using the Betfair case study as an example!

I like the concept of refining what your service does to the "essence" before going for broader applicability. This is a theme that I have begun calling product progression. I believe that too many of the Internet services launching today are building what the finished product will look like, instead of starting with the simplest building block to serve an early adopter need.

Second, I tend to agree that if you don't have an early adopter/power user segment that will love your service in the early days, you are in for an uphill battle. Understanding the needs of the early adopter crowd, as opposed to the mainstream user, is vitally important at launch.

How about this for a how-to guide for launching a consumer Internet service:

1. Identify the early adopters / power users and understand what they need from the service
2. Don't get ahead of yourself building the product - focus on what the core essence of the service should be and build the product to that spec
3. Figure out how you plan to get distribution for the service

Note: All three of these should be thought through simultaneously, as each will impact the other.