4 ms·

I honestly don't get why 4sq is worth 600M. As far as I know, their biggest asset is their user's location data; which is all in the past!! At least Facebook h

by namank 15y ago

I honestly don't get why 4sq is worth 600M. As far as I know, their biggest asset is their user's location data; which is all in the past!! At least Facebook has 'friendships' that can be leveraged as value creating entities for which users go visit the site. 4sq is not even that. I use the app to check in to places, rarely every visiting the site. Someone please explain to me how is 4sq worth $600M?

deleted 15y ago
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harryh 15y ago
Local advertising is a market worth many many many billions of dollars. In the future foursquare will provide more and better ways for local merchants to acquire new customers and treat their already loyal customers better. We'll charge for some of this. We think it will be a profitable endeavor.
- yid 15y ago
  Have you dealt with the issue that checkins are almost impossible to verify in their current form?
- nupark2 15y ago
  I like my phone, but I don't pull it out to be advertised to while I'm outside, I almost always make up my mind about where I'm going before I arrive there, and a physical sign at a store is still more efficient and user friendly than a smart phone coupon. There was a smart phone only offer for free popcorn at the movie theater the other day. It was advertised with physical posters all over the theater, directing you to Yahoo for free popcorn. I figured "why not," got out my phone while riding the escalator, got the evil eye from my wife for pulling out my phone in the middle of a conversation, got weirded out by the Facebook requirement, and gave up. I remain unconvinced that local advertising / coupons is something that is worth using a cell phone for.
- namank 15y ago
  This is interesting. Just my opinion but you might be ahead of your time. NFC needs to be more mature before a user's location can be exploited. But by then, the concept of a 'check in' will be redundant to this process. Your window of opportunity seems to be now. What remains to be seen is what is the best way to leverage the 'check in' and that if you (4sq) have figured it out. Well, good luck to you and the rest of 4sq. I like you guys, just don't get how you will survive.
byrneseyeview 15y ago
A big fraction of local merchants offer some kind of loyalty program. Everything from a branded credit card at the high end to a punch card at the low end. Right now, that stuff is done on an ad hoc basis. If Foursquare ends up owning that market, they're going to make a mint. And a) nobody else comes close to owning it, and b) Foursquare is a better implementation than most existing loyalty programs, especially for a new user.
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revorad 15y ago
their biggest asset is their user's location data; which is all in the past Data, by definition, is in the past. Users' past location data is hugely valuable, just like customer purchase history is valuable for Amazon.
- namank 15y ago
  Not the same thing since history is not Amazon's value proposition.
  - revorad 15y ago
    Of course it is! As a customer, they can recommend me products based on what I've bought before. And if they sell more, that's valuable to their shareholders too. They can predict what might sell more in the future, what might go down, etc. which gives them a lot of leverage over competitors when it comes to managing the supply chain, negotiating partnerships, hiring new staff.

by namank 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

harryh 15y ago

Local advertising is a market worth many many many billions of dollars. In the future foursquare will provide more and better ways for local merchants to acquire new customers and treat their already loyal customers better. We'll charge for some of this. We think it will be a profitable endeavor.

yid 15y ago
Have you dealt with the issue that checkins are almost impossible to verify in their current form?
nupark2 15y ago
I like my phone, but I don't pull it out to be advertised to while I'm outside, I almost always make up my mind about where I'm going before I arrive there, and a physical sign at a store is still more efficient and user friendly than a smart phone coupon. There was a smart phone only offer for free popcorn at the movie theater the other day. It was advertised with physical posters all over the theater, directing you to Yahoo for free popcorn. I figured "why not," got out my phone while riding the escalator, got the evil eye from my wife for pulling out my phone in the middle of a conversation, got weirded out by the Facebook requirement, and gave up. I remain unconvinced that local advertising / coupons is something that is worth using a cell phone for.
namank 15y ago
This is interesting. Just my opinion but you might be ahead of your time. NFC needs to be more mature before a user's location can be exploited. But by then, the concept of a 'check in' will be redundant to this process. Your window of opportunity seems to be now. What remains to be seen is what is the best way to leverage the 'check in' and that if you (4sq) have figured it out. Well, good luck to you and the rest of 4sq. I like you guys, just don't get how you will survive.

byrneseyeview 15y ago

A big fraction of local merchants offer some kind of loyalty program. Everything from a branded credit card at the high end to a punch card at the low end. Right now, that stuff is done on an ad hoc basis. If Foursquare ends up owning that market, they're going to make a mint. And a) nobody else comes close to owning it, and b) Foursquare is a better implementation than most existing loyalty programs, especially for a new user.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

revorad 15y ago

their biggest asset is their user's location data; which is all in the past Data, by definition, is in the past. Users' past location data is hugely valuable, just like customer purchase history is valuable for Amazon.

namank 15y ago
Not the same thing since history is not Amazon's value proposition.
- revorad 15y ago
  Of course it is! As a customer, they can recommend me products based on what I've bought before. And if they sell more, that's valuable to their shareholders too. They can predict what might sell more in the future, what might go down, etc. which gives them a lot of leverage over competitors when it comes to managing the supply chain, negotiating partnerships, hiring new staff.