Social products win with utility, not invites (Guest Post) at andrewchen

Before we dive in, let’s revisit the cold start problem — a well-known challenge for products with network effects (or “networks”), including Snapchat or Airbnb. On these products, the addition of a user makes the product more useful for all users. But on day 0, they have no users and, therefore, no utility to offer new users. This forces them to f... See more

Networked products must balance the needs of multiple sides of a network—not just buyers, but sellers, too. Not just content creators, but viewers as well. And the most important features in networked products often revolve around how users find and connect with each other, whether that’s photo tagging, sharing permissions, or “People You May Know.

... See more