66 chunks · 46 episodes
In an ecosystem, which sub-component will be the one where the network effect coheres and start running away? If there's a good enough, sufficiently open system, that's the emergent schelling point. The point that every partici...
...is the primary use case. The platform is the secondary use case. Platforms have network effects, so as it grows, it eclipses the primary use case that got it going.
...heir median users to kickstart the ecosystem. Vertical products have a singular network effect of strength in numbers. Horizontal platforms have multi-layered, multi-dimensional feedback loops, which scale with the combinatorial possibility of ...
...s of the universe individually, and any functionality that could have a kind of network effect with more use can't get off the ground. The vast majority of functionality that is specific to a given experience is thin and small… but every origin...
...ordinate means do a thing compatible with others. The power of coordination has network effects that dominate as it gets momentum. The more people you could plausibly collaborate with, the more the pull towards coordination will dominate. You c...
...ing to do it. That requires a clear primary use case that works even before the network effect value of the service. The network effect of many users putting their data in the service can only be a bonus.
...ne. This gives you a cold start problem, especially for experiences that have a network effect, where their quality rises with the amount of overall usage. A product that is only network effect can't hope to get off the ground. To get off the g...
...es are minor and hard to activate. But sometimes the secondary use cases have a network effect. The more that people use them, the more useful they get. In these cases, even if only a very small number of people use the secondary use case, that...
Network effects dominate everything else. Nothing linear matters next to a compounding force, in the fullness of time.
Things with massive network effects are inherently wildly path dependent. Small starting noise blown up to galactic proportions. The slight bumpiness in the distribution of matter afte...
...n often be a small but distinct asymmetry, an edge. Ecosystems have significant network effects, which means a consistent edge (even a small one!) can rapidly accumulate an overwhelming advantage. A small but consistent and distinct asymmetry w...
An ecosystem has not crossed its rubicon of viability until demonstrating network effects strong enough to break through the early adopter ceiling. If you have network effects but a low ceiling, it can't change the whole world. To change ...
...ed to be open and allow zero-friction safe composition, it will turbocharge the network effects and hopefully eclipse the quality of any one model. This approach is only possible with the right laws of physics and ecosystem gardening knowhow. T...
...duct. A secondary use case is just a bonus. But some secondary use cases have a network effect. Their value goes up super-linearly with use and adoption. This can allow the secondary use case to quickly eclipse the original primary use case. Th...
...sting as a built object. It's only interesting if it's alive. Alive things with network effects have momentum. This is the all-important self-sustaining flame. That essay is now 8 years old, but I think it still slaps! Ecosystem building is ver...
Network effects are easier to start in 20% time because they don't look like much to start. The withering effect of a powerful person looking at a seedling and sayi...
...e critical mass of users. Second, they grow quickly based on the speed of their network effects. Some network effects have a weak gradient, and some have an incredibly steep one that accelerates with momentum. For example, open systems typicall...
...al but central complement to the ecosystem. This is especially true if you have network effects that cause your quality to go up with more users. Users are willing to use you even when you've grown big, because you don't have undue formal lever...
The cold start problem for network effects shows up because of friction of first use. E.g. "Do I want to trust this random startup with all my data?" In the current paradigm, the marginal use...
...there's some kind of self-improving product quality that grows with use, e.g. a network effect The question for a new feature's engagement is: what portion of the engagement is due to the self-selecting effect, and what portion is structurally ...