I laugh at social networking startups Posted by Tomi Heikkinen , Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 19:52, in Labels: marketing, networking, social media, startups

.. or so I thought.

Everytime I'd come across a new social media networking business, I'd shake my head. It's a social network for people who grow their own oranges. I intend to fund it with advertising.. and stuff. "OK, cool if its your thing", I'd say, "but think about the business model".

But soon I realized that there's two reasons why you shouldn't dismiss these startups/concepts off the bat.

1) Gauss. You need volume to bring out and elevate the best networking sites. There are a thousand composers for each Mozart.

2) Marketing. No, I'm not giving the entrepreneur a dime for traditional direct response or brand marketing in his network. But I will be interested in whether my offering is relevant and useful for the network. Having this figured out, I'll be interested in who is my spokesperson in the group - who will passionately talk about my offering and recommend it to others in the network. And if the entrepreneur is able to provide me answers to these questions, I might pay him for it.