Network effects on social platforms: why the quality of user matters
Back in July, we wrote about network effects in marketplaces and social platforms and how they are critical to defensibility. In the post, we talked about the difference between direct and indirect network effects, and how they may or may not relate to virality. Since then, we have been further developing our investment thesis on […]
Network Effects in Marketplace, Communities and Social Platforms
These days, we’re hyper-focused on marketplaces, communities and social platforms. We love these platforms for many reasons, but the primary one is the power of their network effects and how they create a high degree of defensibility for startups. What are network effects? “Network effects” is a frequently used term and it is sometimes confused […]
Introducing one of Version One’s earlier investments: VarageSale
Online marketplaces have made it easier than ever for people to buy and sell things. But the human element has been missing with the anonymity of Craigslist and eBay. That’s why I’m happy to announce an investment we did two years ago when we participated in the seed round of VarageSale. At the time, they chose […]
Building your user engagement pyramid
One of the first blog posts that Boris shared with me when I was starting out is “Don’t forget your logged out users” by Fred Wilson. Fred notes that with many social platforms, a huge number of their regular users don’t actually login because they are able to derive value from their services on a “logged […]
New investment: Figure 1, a healthcare photo sharing app
Over the years, we’ve seen web and mobile technology disrupt business, education, legal and many other fields as professionals adopt products that help them work more effectively and efficiently. While the healthcare industry has always been more conservative, it is now primed for change. At Version One, we have been looking intensely for investment opportunities […]