When I read Fred Wilson’s comment most how Twitter would get-go “filling the holes” in addition to edifice features to compete against Twitter apps I couldn’t assistance thinking of Goya’s paiting depicting Saturn devouring his son. I soundless haven’t figured out what was Twitter’s intention yesteryear making that controversy a duad of days earlier announcing the acquisition of iPhone app Tweetie. If the strategy was to frighten potential targets to negotiate valuation, in addition to thence I take away to nation it was non fair play…
Twitter needs to cry upwardly most how to amend create arrive at the ecosystem to cook a well for you lot platform in addition to generate returns. They take away to croak on the king of beasts portion of the draw of piece of employment organization merely shouldn’t endeavor owning every possible revenue stream. They don’t take away to prepare every characteristic users like. They take away to define which are the center revenue generating functionalities in addition to ain those pieces, piece creating incentives for tertiary parties to come upwardly up amongst “complements” that lift user sense without getting inward the means of the revenue generating core. What’s the problem? Twitter soundless doesn’t guide maintain a clear in addition to proven revenue model thence it is forced to “play it yesteryear ear”. It needs to arrive at so, however, without killing the ecosystem equally those sense enhancing apps are commutation to Twitter’s increment in addition to innovation.
An interesting article yesteryear David Yoffie in addition to Mary Kwak, “With Friends Like These; The Art of Managing Complementors” provides a useful framework to cry upwardly most complements. One of the commutation query they inquire is “When should you lot create your ain complements?”
Right immediately nosotros tin nation Twitter should create unopen to complements in addition to guide maintain tertiary parties create most of them, equally they take away a broad assortment in addition to guide maintain high capacity to invest (relative to the sum of coin it takes to launch these features). Yoffie in addition to Kwak become on to says that inward a business, equally inward a war, you lot take away to know yourself, you lot take away to know your enemy, in addition to you lot besides take away to know your friend. I don’t aspect to meet a clear application of these iii rules yesteryear Twitter inward the nigh futurity equally they soundless don’t know themselves thence they in all likelihood don’t know who their commutation competitors are in addition to who their friends take away to be.
The curl out of the advertising model volition reach Twitter an reckon of where the coin volition come upwardly from in addition to amongst that data they should get-go defining their revenue model stating who they are, who’s their enemy in addition to who are friends. In the meantime, they should guide maintain this notion of complements inward heed to avoid turning potential friends into enemies equally they did amongst Wilson’s announcement.
