Innovative companies that revolutionized their industries, acquired large user bases, and disrupted marketplaces, only to fail spectacularly afterwards, make the most interesting stories. Friendster may enter the Hall of Fame of such companies. Friendster was a social network pioneer that enabled users to view profiles and connect with strangers, along with other features. It acquired a large user base, raised
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A revenue model describes how a business generates revenues from its products and services. It is one of the key components of the business model. Existing businesses interested in expanding to new areas or adjusting to a new generation of competitors should carefully consider their revenue models. A strong revenue model is also most important for early stage startups; their
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The leading video game console firms, Microsoft and Sony, will soon find themselves in a risky position: after years of enjoying successful products, loyal customers, lucrative market shares, and high profits, they will realize that the good days are over. They will face agile competitors, substitute products, and new business models that undermine the industry. How should they react to
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Wouldn’t it be great if it were easy for entrepreneurs to generate startup ideas worth pursuing? While everybody agrees that execution is crucial, generating great ideas is equally important: no founder could seriously expect investments when pitching poor initiatives. Finding ideas may be easy for some; however, generating impactful initiatives that justify several years of hard labor and capital investments
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About 3 years ago, the world witnessed the geek equivalent of a cat fight between Madonna and Lady Gaga. The participants were leading digital-age celebrities: Chris Anderson (The former editor of Wired and author of The Long Tail), Malcolm Gladwell (an admired columnist at The New Yorker and a best-selling Author), Seth Godin (a well known marketing guru), and Mark
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During the London Olympic Games, many commentators tried to analyze what enabled certain athletes to win and others to lose, and what key factors contributed to the victors’ success. Likewise, we can analyze the factors of success in the startup community. What distinguishes a venture that ultimately gets a double-spread article in a well-known magazine, with a title such as:
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Twitter, the cool social network with over 500 million registered users, is recognized for leading new trends, adapting to market developments, and innovating. Twitter’s unique attitude towards patents, however, is less known. A research published in October 2011 discovered a surprising fact: there were no published patent applications submitted to the USPTO by the then 5-year-old Twitter. Many factors, on
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In a memorable episode of NBC’s comedy 30 Rock, Liz Lemon (played by Tina Fey) is concerned that her profession – a TV writer – may become obsolete. She visualizes a horrible nightmare: a bunch of strange people telling her: “You are one of us – people whose professions are no longer a thing”. Among these people are a travel
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