just a quick question......what is main key to a successful internet company?
is it traffic?
is it management?
is it web site looks?
It's traffic, yes, but how do you get it? Pathfinder failed b/c users wanted to go directly to each news site. AOL succeeds for the exact opposite.
What are the statistics on Amazon.com versus Barnesandnoble? I don't know but I'm sure someone does and is trying to figure out what makes one succeed and not another. Is it first to market? Name identity? Ease of use? Marketing?
What makes one site cool and another one suck? (to put it in the vernacular)
I believe we're creatures of habit, but we can change, so what makes us deviate from those neural patterns?
Word of mouth? A friend saying, have you tried. . .? Then trying it and liking it?
But to get back to your question, what makes a successful Internet company, there are many types of businesses and what works for casual users like me and corporate users like Newbridge's third-party suppliers can be completely different.
I don't know anything about "Ask Jeeves," but the concept sounds explosive. If you're new on the Net, you want to go where you can get answers. You want a traffic cop or a Grand Central Station or an all-seeing God --- someone to tell you how to get where you want to go.
On the other hand, there will be countless content companies who'll succeed. If I were developing one, I'd want my icon on all the top webservers. After that, I'd want the greatest content in the easiest-to-use format I could find. Alive.com is going to provide a way to send audio and video between users. Quokka.com is going to be the ESPN of the Internet. Not sure of the website, but MP3 is going to distribute digital music, I believe downloadable. The list could go on and on.
Some Internet companies won't have to be visible to succeed. They'll be the technology behind other company's success. Phone.com is the first to license WAP (wireless application protocol)tehcnology, allowing all hand-held devices to work seamlessly. We all know Inktomi. But then there's Akamai: akamai.com and its competitor, Sandpiper: techweb.com
Behind all the winners are dynamic management teams. Akamai just hired George Conrades as CEO and chairman. Not bad.
This discussion could go on and on. Endlessly. And I hope it will. :)
Pat
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