4 ms·

My guess is that Pinterest will have the most to prove in 2016 among the Unicorns. By far the biggest social network in terms of valuation with the least proven

My guess is that Pinterest will have the most to prove in 2016 among the Unicorns. By far the biggest social network in terms of valuation with the least proven source of revenue.

malandrew 11y ago
Pinterest can at least insert itself between you and products you might buy to earn referral dollars. My understanding is that for certain markets it has a lot of eyeballs like wedding planning. Personally, I think Snapchat has the most to prove.
- boomzilla 11y ago
  I think the novelty for Pinterest will wear off. There is only so much gratification in viewing beautiful pictures put together. I don't see any other value Pinterest is providing. Snapchat, on the other hand, at least provides a communication channel for a very active demographics. Yes, it has to compete with a lot of big guys in the space, but the utility is there in the product.
  - mahyarm 11y ago
    I see the value of Pinterest being something like houzz. You recognize products being sold inside pictures and then sell ads related it to it. It's like visual google advertising. You get the advantage of people looking for the thing that they want to look at.
  - Estragon 11y ago
    snapchat's unique appeal seems to be snakeoil, though. There has to be someone out there making a snapchat archive tool for nasty people.
  - egillie 11y ago
    I think of Pinterest as replacing magazines à la 'Better Homes', and magazines didn't seem to suffer the novelty problem.
  - jedberg 11y ago
    You must not hang out with middle aged women much. My wife is on there all the time, planning my daughter's birthday party or getting ideas for her next craft project. My sister-in-law is the same. I think someone said it elsewhere in the thread, they're replacing all those magazines suburban housewives used to read, and they can advertise more efficiently than those magazines because they have better data about you and can get between you and the transaction.
- sjg007 11y ago
  Snapchat is monetizing video.
mbesto 11y ago
https://twitter.com/levie/status/172463250867367937 https://twitter.com/levie/status/172463250867367937 Tweet from 2012. If the graph Levie is referring to is indeed accurate, then fast forwarding 3 years later means growth for Pinterest has effectively halted.
- x0x0 11y ago
  compete uses, afaik, toolbar data. That is notoriously fickle, particularly as browsers have cracked down on that type of sketchy monetization.
- nl 11y ago
  It seems possible it is legit issue. Google trends seems to show the same pattern[1]. They did have extremely explosive growth though (perhaps the fastest ever?) I'm very bullish in Pinterest (see my other comments), but that may indicate a challenge to them. OTOH, in comparison to an older site like ebay, they do have pretty significant traffic[2]. [1] https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20snapchat&date=1%2F2011%2061m& https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20sn... [2] https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20snapchat%2C%20ebay&date=1%2F2011%2061m&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT-10%3A30 https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20sn...
nl 11y ago
If I could I'd put my life savings in Pinterest. I'd probably make it back in a week from the money my wife and her friends spend through that site. Yes, I understand they aren't monetizing it. Yet.
- dawhizkid 11y ago
  "Yet" is the keyword. I said "most to prove" not "headed to the Unicorn grave." My point is that social companies have the most to prove when it comes to their valuations (lots of users but questionable rev), and especially with Facebook eating everyone's lunch, I think investors will start ramping up the pressure on Pinterest (and Snapchat) for real revenue growth. At least Snapchat has gotten much more serious about experimenting with ads. Pinterest is still in this early Facebook stage of "we don't really care about making money right now," which I don't think really flies anymore for a company of that stage.

My guess is that Pinterest will have the most to prove in 2016 among the Unicorns. By far the biggest social network in terms of valuation with the least proven source of revenue.

malandrew 11y ago

Pinterest can at least insert itself between you and products you might buy to earn referral dollars. My understanding is that for certain markets it has a lot of eyeballs like wedding planning. Personally, I think Snapchat has the most to prove.

boomzilla 11y ago
I think the novelty for Pinterest will wear off. There is only so much gratification in viewing beautiful pictures put together. I don't see any other value Pinterest is providing. Snapchat, on the other hand, at least provides a communication channel for a very active demographics. Yes, it has to compete with a lot of big guys in the space, but the utility is there in the product.
- mahyarm 11y ago
  I see the value of Pinterest being something like houzz. You recognize products being sold inside pictures and then sell ads related it to it. It's like visual google advertising. You get the advantage of people looking for the thing that they want to look at.
- Estragon 11y ago
  snapchat's unique appeal seems to be snakeoil, though. There has to be someone out there making a snapchat archive tool for nasty people.
- egillie 11y ago
  I think of Pinterest as replacing magazines à la 'Better Homes', and magazines didn't seem to suffer the novelty problem.
- jedberg 11y ago
  You must not hang out with middle aged women much. My wife is on there all the time, planning my daughter's birthday party or getting ideas for her next craft project. My sister-in-law is the same. I think someone said it elsewhere in the thread, they're replacing all those magazines suburban housewives used to read, and they can advertise more efficiently than those magazines because they have better data about you and can get between you and the transaction.
sjg007 11y ago
Snapchat is monetizing video.

mbesto 11y ago

https://twitter.com/levie/status/172463250867367937 https://twitter.com/levie/status/172463250867367937 Tweet from 2012. If the graph Levie is referring to is indeed accurate, then fast forwarding 3 years later means growth for Pinterest has effectively halted.

x0x0 11y ago
compete uses, afaik, toolbar data. That is notoriously fickle, particularly as browsers have cracked down on that type of sketchy monetization.
nl 11y ago
It seems possible it is legit issue. Google trends seems to show the same pattern[1]. They did have extremely explosive growth though (perhaps the fastest ever?) I'm very bullish in Pinterest (see my other comments), but that may indicate a challenge to them. OTOH, in comparison to an older site like ebay, they do have pretty significant traffic[2]. [1] https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20snapchat&date=1%2F2011%2061m& https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20sn... [2] https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20snapchat%2C%20ebay&date=1%2F2011%2061m&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT-10%3A30 https://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=pinterest%2C%20sn...

nl 11y ago

If I could I'd put my life savings in Pinterest. I'd probably make it back in a week from the money my wife and her friends spend through that site. Yes, I understand they aren't monetizing it. Yet.

dawhizkid 11y ago
"Yet" is the keyword. I said "most to prove" not "headed to the Unicorn grave." My point is that social companies have the most to prove when it comes to their valuations (lots of users but questionable rev), and especially with Facebook eating everyone's lunch, I think investors will start ramping up the pressure on Pinterest (and Snapchat) for real revenue growth. At least Snapchat has gotten much more serious about experimenting with ads. Pinterest is still in this early Facebook stage of "we don't really care about making money right now," which I don't think really flies anymore for a company of that stage.