Academia.edu have the right idea, but their execution sucks. - Signing up is an exercise is spam. Most of the people who are willing to endure the whole thing

Academia.edu have the right idea, but their execution sucks. - Signing up is an exercise is spam. Most of the people who are willing to endure the whole thing are the least desirable customers (i.e., folks with more style than substance). - Their onboarding process sucks. Most popular researchers will not jump through the hoops necessary to get their stuff on board. There is no compelling reason to be on there at this point. Within the first 30-60 secs, there is no "hell yeah!" moment. - The issues of what constitutes "previously published" for elite journals is potentially probelmatic (although it shouldn't be in this case). - The obvious gift of a research "family tree" has not been offered. Being able to identify distant relatives on this tree has ridiculously high value that has not been manifested. - The recommendation engine sucks. For someone writing a paper on a certain topic, a.e should be able to crank out a fairly accurate list of papers you will want to read or cite before you write. This would be very high value add if done well. A.e whiffed on this one, too. There is a huge need for what a.e is offering or could offer, but their execution has been pretty terrible. It seems like they are optimizing metrics for their funders rather than their customers. If that site does die, I will gladly take it off of their hands, give them 10% equity to leave, and turn it into a ubiquitous resource for academics and researchers. They really need to stop drinking the Bay Area kool aid and figure out what their core customers want... and then deliver that.