Some good thoughts here and as the founder of countless failed startups I can totally relate to the message.
However, over the years I've come to the conclusion that "Finding Customers" is what you do when you are a contract designer or developer. I've reframed this concept into "Validate the value proposition". Yes, this is kind of like "finding customers" but redirects the focus to doing what you really need to do and that is "prove in some quantitatively valid manner that your target market will in fact purchase and use your app".
The big problem with this approach is that developing a "quantitatively valid methodology" is tricky and will be different for every startup and market. That said though, if you can figure out a way to do this it will greatly enhance your chances of both securing angel and VC funding and of being successful.
I love talking about this stuff though and greatly appreciate the efforts of people like lian who take the time to write down their thoughts.
Real Estate was the last bubble. University of Phoenix and all the other manifestations of academia will be the "next" bubble to burst. And it ain't gonna be pretty.
HP better figure out how to get into the smart phone business. That's where it's gonna be at. I personally use a palm.... Get's the job done but I'll be moving on soon. HP made a big mistake by dropping that one.
USA would be a much better place if it also had the death penalty for drug possession. Singapore is mostly Chinese and their obsession with illegal drugs goes back to the "Opium War" fought in the 1840's. Over the top for sure but "it works".
I tend to agree that mobile devices are a pain (and that's what the article is about, not "news being the next social revolution). I don't like the darned things but the masses disagree with me and if you want to write code that matters you have to understand what the masses want.
Right now the overall strategy is to incorporate mobile devices as fast and easy I/O devices for our apps. I don't think Facebook is going to be able to get away with that but I hope it will work for us.
Pol Pot and Ho Chi Minh knew how to take care of the rich. They just killed them and took all the money.
The totally uneducated and illiterate Chingis Khan took a different tact. He conquered territories and then collected taxes from and "protected" the commercial caravans that traversed his extensive real estate holdings. Chingis had his problems but his dynasty lasted longer than the others for sure.
If you make a living off of your website and that living is dependent on conversions then this subject is always "worth your attention". But I agree with patio11. Get everyone's opinion and then learn how to run A/B or multivariate tests.
There's gotta be a way to monetize twitter without having to go to display ads or adding to the spam problem. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet.
Maybe there's some way to add features that allow agglomeration leaders (i.e. those with lots of followers) to subscribe to services that allow them monetize their followings.
Actually it's not "slightly more money".... Dollar is struggling right now. Will probably be devalued by 10 or 20 percent soon. Google execs are just trying to stay ahead of the curve.
However, over the years I've come to the conclusion that "Finding Customers" is what you do when you are a contract designer or developer. I've reframed this concept into "Validate the value proposition". Yes, this is kind of like "finding customers" but redirects the focus to doing what you really need to do and that is "prove in some quantitatively valid manner that your target market will in fact purchase and use your app".
The big problem with this approach is that developing a "quantitatively valid methodology" is tricky and will be different for every startup and market. That said though, if you can figure out a way to do this it will greatly enhance your chances of both securing angel and VC funding and of being successful.
I love talking about this stuff though and greatly appreciate the efforts of people like lian who take the time to write down their thoughts.