

Twitter to Launch Business Tools by Year-End - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/twitter-to-launch-business-tools-by-year-end-biz-stone/

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daeken
It baffles me that they're taking this long. Quite honestly, if I had invested
in Twitter, I'd be on them like white on rice to get /something/ out business-
wise. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to bring something to the table
and set the stage for future money-making.

Perhaps we simply have ideological differences, but I can't help but think
they just really don't see the importance of moving quickly on this.

~~~
sachinag
You remember earlier today how Amazon just put several startups out of
business with their auto scaling and whatnot?

Here's the lesson: if you own the platform, and the platform's growing, _grow
the platform as big as you can_ because you can always add tools for
monetization later. When you add tools, they become the default. (example:
Facebook Photos.)

The mindset is totally different when you're growing a VC-backed company. The
rational thing to do when you have capital to spare is to go for growth - it's
just not the same as bootstrapping with a back pocket full of cash. You run
the business differently.

Plus, the minute you start making money, the metrics totally change. What's
the metric Twitter investors use right now? Tweet views[1].

The only example I can think of that failed was eBay's BillPay and it turns
out that PayPal was a platform with its own viral nature, not a mere feature
(oh, and they burned $180 million before they hit breakeven[2]).

[1][http://www.businessinsider.com/what-twitter-really-wants-
fro...](http://www.businessinsider.com/what-twitter-really-wants-from-
google-2009-4) [2] [http://www.pehub.com/40062/peter-thiel-on-valleywag-its-
the-...](http://www.pehub.com/40062/peter-thiel-on-valleywag-its-the-silicon-
valley-equivalent-of-al-qaeda/)

~~~
daeken
I think the biggest problem with this view is that it assumes users will stick
around if things stay the same. Twitter may be growing at impressive rates
right now, but will that continue, and will the users actually continue using
the service? I simply can't see the majority of these users sticking around
without there being more to it, in the form of value-added services.

In addition, there are many cases of the "grow the platform" idea failing:
Myspace and Youtube are damn good ones. Yes, they both have lots and lots of
users, but where are they in terms of profit? Last I heard, they're both
operating at a significant loss, although I haven't seen numbers for Myspace
in a while.

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samson
Okay so if this is the model that their going with, and I've been hearing this
one for while. It would seem that they are trying to go after the same market
that yelp, uservoice, and getsatification are all gravitating around albeit
from different starting points. Which is fine, its a large profitable market.

But then what differentiates them?

>It will be “simple stuff” such as lightweight analytics

okay...so technology as the driver has just walked out the door.

It seems like their sales pitch towards businesses will be based on the size
of their user base. Which if thats the case won't they inevitably lose to
Facebook? Facebook has a user base several times larger and as we've all seen
Facebook is ready, willing, and happy to copy whatever works from whomever.

~~~
daeken
That's why it's so important to move quickly on this. They seem to think
they'll keep growing the way they have, and that they're going to keep their
user base by keeping things the same. In reality, their users are going to
leave unless they get value-added services out the door /now/, not "by year's
end".

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ashishk
I actually think they can make a lot of money.

Look at the prices Get Satisfaction charges:
<http://getsatisfaction.com/pricing>

Think of the number of companies on Twitter.

I don't see a reason why they wouldnt pay $100/month to be able to engage with
more users/ engage with users more easily.

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irrelative
Call me skeptical but I suspect this is a stall technique, perhaps to
implement some of their ideas.

Given their recent media attention and emphasis on new users, I will be
surprised to see a business model any more innovative than advertising.
However, I really hope to be surprised!

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mtpark
If none of these plans pan out, I'd be surprised if they continue the non-ads
approach.

I hope they figure it out though, they'd be a great case study on a question
we'd all like answered.

