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There are VC-funded startups that fulfill a semi-real need, but lack any potential to become a real business. "Advertising" isn't a business model; it's a crutc
by maxaf 9y ago
There are VC-funded startups that fulfill a semi-real need, but lack any potential to become a real business. "Advertising" isn't a business model; it's a crutch one reaches for when an existing business isn't financially sustainable on its own.
Giphy should be an open source library or app, or perhaps a community-supported site, that people would use on occasion. Expecting it to drive traffic that justifies a VC-scale investment will only dilute a generally useful service and cause it to fall by the wayside when the VCs pull out.
- ben_jones 9y agoTrue it would be probably be better. But we live in a culture that glorifies the slick salesman who pulls himself up by his bootstraps. Think Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street. This is going to continue to happen with a large host of products. And the very same community we are currently posting in helped build it.
- sjg007 9y agoI mean imgur is the pioneer in this space... advertising seems like a fine business.
- plorkyeran 9y agoImgur is not even remotely the pioneer. They're the most recent in a long line of image hosts that built up a userbase with a simple functional website, followed by sacrificing that to be able to serve ads.
- jdc0589 9y agowhile I agree that "advertising isn't a business model", truly accepting that means accepting that the majority of the Internet is broken and will fail.
- tomascot 9y agoI think Google and Facebook depend on advertising
- CharlesW 9y agoGoogle (Alphabet) and Facebook are internet advertising. http://image-store.slidesharecdn.com/f0a87be0-b176-4d80-ae8f-85283473f317-original.png http://image-store.slidesharecdn.com/f0a87be0-b176-4d80-ae8f...
- jdc0589 9y agothats the point. If advertising is a failing/bad business model, you are betting against them.
- _pius 9y ago"Advertising" isn't a business model; it's a crutch one reaches for when an existing business isn't financially sustainable on its own. Advertising is absolutely a business model; it funds not only most of what you see on the internet, but much of what you watch on TV. Now is it the best business model for every company? Obviously not.
- paulddraper 9y ago> "Advertising" isn't a business model Someone alert Larry and Sergey, right away!