jfarmer, pretty cool analysis. i am curious, though, if there is there any way you would approach building a standalone social network differently then just building an app? or is it literally just a wider scope of the exact same principles?
yea completely agreed. but keep in mind they can wean them off it it since they have access to all the data, and they can instantly port it over. they could even let you use their client and your existing client in the interim, or just use each in different cases. obviously this poses new technical challenges, but not out of the realm of possibility.
Completely agree. At worst you fail, but you learned how to work hard, you gained access to some awesome tech circles, and you will be better off next time. As long as you fail fast and learn from your mistakes there's absolutely no downside.
In the best case, you're Xobni or Loopt or Reddit or Scribd. Seems like a no-brainer.
I feel like there is a lot you should do to solidify your network, your resources, your outlook, your team, your understanding of markets, and your philosophies on product before you even build one so I think he is spot on.
Sitting down and just building something cool without the above is generally a recipe for disaster.
Yea really it is a great question. The valuation is one aspect. The other is the fact that your incentive to succeed goes down once you get money so the very moment you get it, you're expected future earnings go down.
yea for sure there are different kinds of people out there and i do acknowledge that, i am just asking from a strictly professional sense how you should approach career and so forth?