Andrew Chen – The Cold Start Problem (2021)
“Als iedereen nu eens dit zou doen, dan zou het werken…” De auteur probeert op basis van praktijkvoorbeelden de mogelijke oplossingen voor dit probleem te schetsen. Er bestaat geen one-size-fits-all antwoord, maar dit boek geeft wellicht genoeg inspiratie voor een op maat gemaakte oplossing. In elk geval is het een stuk vermakelijker om te lezen dan dat de (gortdroge) kaft doet vermoeden.
Hard sides exist because there are tasks in any networked product that just require more work; users on the hard side expect status benefits as well as financial outcomes, and will try competitive products to compare.
The ‘Come for the tool, stay for the network’ strategy: The idea is to initially attract users with a single-player tool and then, over time, get them to participate in a network. The tool helps get to initial critical mass. The network creates the long term value for users.
For products where you only need a few people to make it useful, having the guarantee of at least one connection (through invitation) is a giant step toward solving the cold start problem.
In large scale communities, standards and self-governance can’t be maintained by people simply running around and talking to each other. Instead, features that nudge the interactions in the right direction are needed. Human upvotes, downvotes, or flagging should be combined with machine learning and automation to detect scammers.
A social network should continue to prioritize distribution for the best content, whatever the definition of quality, regardless of the vintage of user producing it. Otherwise, a form of social capital inequality sets in.
When people sought to exert influence/power (i.e., speaking up with suggestions) but lacked respect, others perceived them as difficult, coercive, and self-serving.
Network density beats total size, once a niche player forms their atomic networks and begins to branch out, they enjoy network effects that become very hard to stop, particularly in their initial market.