Topic 4 of 52: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Sat, Aug 9, 1997 (08:41) |
Paul Terry Walhus (terry)
"Net Gain" by Hagel and Armstrong is a book which presents a
theory on how content providers (isn't that what the Spring does?)
can make big bucks with web sites. And they insist you gotta make
a move now. A key to their plan is the "virtual community
organizer" that attracts buyers and vendors to a site focused on
the area of interest. For example on the Spring we could start a
spring water topic and try and invite vendors like Ozarka,
Perrier, etc and get folks into spring water interested. By the
fifth to the tenth year, the critical mass accumulated by
concentrating all these consumers in one area yields big returns
for the website.
There's a good discussion of this on Electric Minds at
http://www.minds.com/cgi-bin/maslink.cgi/command?content+tom+wealth+2748
6 responses total.
Topic 4 of 52 [vc]: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Response 1 of 6: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Aug 9, 1997 (08:56) * 17 lines
Motley Fool at http://www.fool.com is an extraordinary example of
how two writers moved from an AOL forum to the web and have the
stock investor community riveted on their site. They truly have
gained the attention of stock investors who hang on their every
move through comments in forums covering nearly every listed stock.
The SEC even investigated them for potential stock manipulation.
amazon.com or http://www.amazon.com is doing this with book
buyers. They have this community nearly locked in. They started
early and have a huge lead over the big guys like Barnes and Noble.
You need "seed users" to get the thing started and to attract the
voyeurs and "lurkers". And give the users a place for bios and
homepage links like they do on Electric Minds and like we'll be
doing here soon. Make it easy for the users to get to know each
other and feel comfortable together.
Topic 4 of 52 [vc]: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Response 2 of 6: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Wed, Sep 17, 1997 (19:07) * 4 lines
I've often thought that the most successful vcs came about as a result
of a single-subject discussion. For example, the WELL really took off
when the "deadheads" (Grateful Dead fans) were given accounts and their
own conference.
Topic 4 of 52 [vc]: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Response 3 of 6: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Sep 17, 1997 (21:00) * 1 lines
Hmmm, who can we get?
Topic 4 of 52 [vc]: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Response 4 of 6: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Wed, Sep 17, 1997 (21:47) * 5 lines
Dunno...that's the thing. Another thing that helped the WELL, I think,
is it's location and the fact that it started as a conferencing system
*for the Bay area*. Geographical location was important in bringing
the community closer together (the WELL meets, parties etc.) and also
the fact that the Bay area is so dynamic anyway :)
Topic 4 of 52 [vc]: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Response 5 of 6: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Sep 18, 1997 (21:59) * 7 lines
I'm doing some local network, I talked to Brigid Shea tonight, and she's a former
city councilwoman and local mover/shaker who knows lots of people, she's just getting
up to speed on her computer it sounded like. I need to do a lot more local networking, at
least one event every night. I also talked to a guy at Apple in Austin who seemed real receptive and
said the same thing you just said about the WELL. He thought that being a dial up isp helped the
WELL get where it is today.
Topic 4 of 52 [vc]: Net Gain by Hagel and Armstrong (VCs makin' big bucks)
Response 6 of 6: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Fri, Sep 19, 1997 (21:43) * 2 lines
Yeah, I think the dial-up probably helped too. Even *more* of a communal
feeling if that's where you're getting your network access from.
vc conference 
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