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Good write-up and constructive feedback. The problem is that all of these other core items have been competed away by other sites. I think CouchSurfing did wel

Good write-up and constructive feedback. The problem is that all of these other core items have been competed away by other sites. I think CouchSurfing did well because there wasn't a reddit, tripadvisor, airbnb, ... established, yet, when CouchSurfing was founded in 2003. They had an early-mover advantage, tapping into a sizeable population of like-minded people. Does CouchSurfing have any remaining competitive advantages?

0xbadcafebee 5y ago
I think the primary competitive advantage is in the confluence of features. There may be other sites dedicated to one thing or another, but by combining all those features in a way that is super convenient for a single purpose (planning where to go + what to do + people to do it with) you get enhanced value. One example is Docker. All the features of Docker already existed in different tools. But Docker combined everything into one tool, making it easy to solve many different problems with one solution. The only "competitor" to Docker now are the other tools imitating Docker. (Has anyone even tried to use LXC or OpenVZ since Docker arrived?) Another is Facebook. All of Facebook's individual features exist in other sites. But they combined all those different things into one platform, so people naturally went "Why would I use 10 different sites when I can just use one?" Once Couchsurfing's forums went south, people found Facebook much easier for group and event organization, so all the local Couchsurfing communities fled to Facebook regional groups (..... and made them private and locals-only, excluding all the travelers). Even with a first-mover advantage, Couchsurfing lost their user base and engagement when they chased away the community (as they were chasing investors, revenue, and irrelevant design trends). The one feature Couchsurfing has that nobody else has is references. My profile has like 70 positive references from hosting travelers over many years, people of all ages and genders, with zero negative references. But some people have references from only one gender, and some people have negative references. This gives people a much better idea if a stranger is worth hanging out with; their profile may look bland, but a bunch of glowing reviews makes you think, they might be fun, let's give 'em a chance. This is distinct from a "friends list" with no reviews or context; they might have 1000 friends, but only 5 reviews. References also help reinforce good culture, as people know if they act like a dick they will get negative references.
- caminante 5y ago
  > "Why would I use 10 different sites when I can just use one?" IMHO, Docker and Facebook still did core/pure products that (i) were the category best, and (ii) anchored everything else. It sounds like CouchSurfing lost its way circa 2013 by nuking community content. [0] > The one feature Couchsurfing has that nobody else has is references. Agree. That's the secret sauce to any platform. With things where they're at now with AirBNB, hostel sites, and locations that will actually underwrite awful experiences for guests/hosts, I naively assume CouchSurfing is a shadow of its former self. Allegedly, CouchSurfing started adding fees in with covid19, including paid verification. [0]https://brenontheroad.com/the-end-of-couchsurfing/ https://brenontheroad.com/the-end-of-couchsurfing/

0xbadcafebee 5y ago

I think the primary competitive advantage is in the confluence of features. There may be other sites dedicated to one thing or another, but by combining all those features in a way that is super convenient for a single purpose (planning where to go + what to do + people to do it with) you get enhanced value. One example is Docker. All the features of Docker already existed in different tools. But Docker combined everything into one tool, making it easy to solve many different problems with one solution. The only "competitor" to Docker now are the other tools imitating Docker. (Has anyone even tried to use LXC or OpenVZ since Docker arrived?) Another is Facebook. All of Facebook's individual features exist in other sites. But they combined all those different things into one platform, so people naturally went "Why would I use 10 different sites when I can just use one?" Once Couchsurfing's forums went south, people found Facebook much easier for group and event organization, so all the local Couchsurfing communities fled to Facebook regional groups (..... and made them private and locals-only, excluding all the travelers). Even with a first-mover advantage, Couchsurfing lost their user base and engagement when they chased away the community (as they were chasing investors, revenue, and irrelevant design trends). The one feature Couchsurfing has that nobody else has is references. My profile has like 70 positive references from hosting travelers over many years, people of all ages and genders, with zero negative references. But some people have references from only one gender, and some people have negative references. This gives people a much better idea if a stranger is worth hanging out with; their profile may look bland, but a bunch of glowing reviews makes you think, they might be fun, let's give 'em a chance. This is distinct from a "friends list" with no reviews or context; they might have 1000 friends, but only 5 reviews. References also help reinforce good culture, as people know if they act like a dick they will get negative references.

caminante 5y ago
> "Why would I use 10 different sites when I can just use one?" IMHO, Docker and Facebook still did core/pure products that (i) were the category best, and (ii) anchored everything else. It sounds like CouchSurfing lost its way circa 2013 by nuking community content. [0] > The one feature Couchsurfing has that nobody else has is references. Agree. That's the secret sauce to any platform. With things where they're at now with AirBNB, hostel sites, and locations that will actually underwrite awful experiences for guests/hosts, I naively assume CouchSurfing is a shadow of its former self. Allegedly, CouchSurfing started adding fees in with covid19, including paid verification. [0]https://brenontheroad.com/the-end-of-couchsurfing/ https://brenontheroad.com/the-end-of-couchsurfing/