Note 1: This is an update of an article that I wrote on a whim in December 2006, while I was on a break from business school at NYU Stern. It was published without update at Tekedia in July, 2011. The announcement by IBM about its new 7nm chip prompted me to dig it up […]
Case Studies
Case Study: Fab – How Did That Happen?
Recent reports in the press about the problems Fab is facing got me thinking about the lessons one might learn from its meteoric rise and spectacular crash. Professional investors always give this disclaimer; Past performance does not necessarily guarantee or predict future results. Similarly, Fab’s experience is not necessarily a precedent that will always be […]
Revisiting What I Know About Network Effects & Startups
‘One IPO that is probably worth the hype.’ – Chris Beauchamp on the # with @kerushton in the Telegraph. http://t.co/l8FqFRYwzJ — IG (@IGcom) September 1, 2014 The recently announced IPO of Alibaba got me thinking last week about network effects ((Any errors in appropriately citing my sources are entirely mine. Let me know what […]
A Note On Viral Marketing – Part III: How Dropbox Grew
Dropbox is another example of a product that has experienced remarkable growth since its launch. In this case study I will explore how Dropbox has achieved such rapid growth and try to identify strategic themes that other startups might consider for experiments centered around user acquisition and revenue growth. ((Any errors in appropriately citing my […]
A Note on Viral Marketing – Part II: How Hotmail Grew
Hotmail is one example of a product that spread through the use of viral marketing techniques. This case study will cover the early days of hotmail, explore some of the underlying factors that led to its spread, and examine one model that has been used to model growth of its number of users. ((Any errors […]
How an Investor’s Behavioral Traits Might Completely Derail Your Pitch – Part I
Many startup pitch meetings start out on a promising note, but things fall apart during the conversation between the startup and its prospective investor. Sometimes this could have been prevented if the startup team had studied a little bit of behavioral psychology beforehand. ((Any errors in correctly attributing work to my sources and references is […]