This weekend was the third iteration of Community Next and it was focused on developing for platforms (in other words: how to make money off of Facebook). I’ve been tossing around some ideas myself and only needed to listen to one or two panels to determine following:
- The “bubble” has decentralized. Instead of one big commotion over something called “the internet” we’ve created dozens, if not hundreds, of mini-bubbles that all involved parties convince each other is the most important thing right now.
- Mini-bubbles can make mega-money. Each new concept (Facebook platform, website widgets) only grows the pool even furthur which means more talent, more money, more excitement, repeat.
- Most people don’t “get” Facebook. Social networks are the first websites that both nerds and normals can use together and overlap. Nerds build the applications, though. In other words, millions of college kids (normals) put “who reads?” as their favorite book whilst nerds create applications to list your favorite book, current reads, and your personal review of them all.
- There is no formula to success. Just because your application or idea is viral doesn’t mean it’ll attract millions of users. Just because it’s rich in features doesn’t mean people will use it any more frequent. You can’t look at success with such a checklist approach.
- Switching costs are lower. Thanks to thousands of app developers if I think your Office Quotes application sucks it only takes three clicks to get a replacement. We’re picky, we’ve made the big decisions (Facebook v MySpace) but the rest are so easy. Do it right.
- Noah sure knows how to make money. It’s wise to build a conference and a reputation of bringing smart people together. Being able to repeat it every 3 months with a new idea (thus, group) is perfect.
I don’t know if anyone agrees or disagrees with me so I’d love to hear your thoughts. In fact, I’d love to hear what Noah Kagan, Dave Feinleib, Dave McClure, Andrew Chen, Rodney Rumford and anyone else at CommunityNext think/thought.
Focus on the product and money comes afterwards I have learned from these events.
How did Rachel get her finger stuck in a table? I’m going to the next Community Next or I will shave my head.
And plus I agree with you.
i don’t know if there’s a ‘formula’ for success, but i think a few App developers (including noah) have figured out how to consistently produce winning apps. whether or not it’s a formula, they’ve got something that appears to be repeatable. several of the larger mini-empires within Facebook (Slide, RockYou, others) are aggregating a stable of apps, either by building or buying them.
congrats to noah & andrew for a great conference… i overheard more than one app developer saying it was one of the best events they’d attended and well worth the price of admission. noah’s definitely building a solid rep for the CommunityNext brand.
– dave mc
I think my biggest takeaway is definitely the importance of knowing your audience. You mentioned that many of the developers don’t understand the average user, but the concept goes beyond that. Many of the conference attendees also don’t understand how to interact each other. Realizing that you are always selling yourself and need to make a good impression (even if I don’t have any venture capital to give you) versus constantly selling yourself with an agenda and an army of business cards is a fine line that was crossed way too many times in both directions this weekend…
Ben, come to the next conference and I’ll demonstrate. :)
@noah: Exactly, you did a great job. Little things like Red Bull are what make people say it’s the best conference they’ve ever been to.
@Ben: I’ve personally done it before but still.. it was embarrassing. What a dork. Thanks for agreeing.
@dave: That’s true, there are some ‘rules’ that can help you get ahead, for sure. I hope your conference went as well, if not better.
@Rachel: Ah yes, walking away with four cards I probably won’t look at again and only handing out one. But, the number of people and conversations had.. that will last beyond the conference. Luckily I learned how to navigate the line with 2 prior conferences. ;)