World 2.0 Startups

1 -> 1.5 -> 2.0. Once you realize this pattern, you cannot unsee it:

Take encyclopedias for example. We went from books (1.0), to Britannica CDs (1.5), and only then to Wikipedia, a truly World 2.0 product. Internet-first. Design is another example of an evolution from easels (1.0), to Photoshop (1.5), to Figma (2.0).

Before we transition in to the truly native format, we often first make a transitional product that’s halfway in-between worlds. In 2020 parlance, we’ll call these “World 1.5” products.