4 ms·

can't comment on the specific twitter question because that's confidential info. but it is very much on its way to becoming a big and sustainable business. i t

can't comment on the specific twitter question because that's confidential info. but it is very much on its way to becoming a big and sustainable business. i think the flaw in my post is you need something more than being mocked and misunderstood. you need traction, usage, momentum, etc. but when you have that and continue to be mocked and misunderstood, that's a very positive signal to me.

shaggy 15y ago
Can you provide any sort of insight into what will make twitter profitable? I'm not asking for numbers or anything, just some idea as to what will make it a long lasting, sustainable business with a real business model? You're original post and this comment are certainly on point in that twitter has traction and it's use is massive and wide spread, but in the end it comes down to who's paying for it? Will twitter move to an optional (freemium) subscription model? Will it admit it's a marketing and advertising dream data set and sell that? I personally don't use twitter and my own bias has always left me not understanding the point (too much noise) but I'm certainly interested in what the plan to become a real business is.
- fredwilson 15y ago
  twitter's revenue model is the promoted suite http://blog.twitter.com/2010/10/promoted-promotions.html http://blog.twitter.com/2010/10/promoted-promotions.html that is what they have been focusing on for the past few years and it is producing a lot of revenue now
DevX101 15y ago
| you need something more than being mocked and misunderstood. you need traction, usage, momentum, etc. Companies that have traction, usage, momentum, etc and ARE NOT mocked and misunderstood certainly outperform the ones that fit those criteria and were mocked and misunderstood. Nonetheless, if you look at all the variables that could play a role in a company's success I doubt "mocked & misunderstood" has any predictive value over a large enough sample.

shaggy 15y ago

Can you provide any sort of insight into what will make twitter profitable? I'm not asking for numbers or anything, just some idea as to what will make it a long lasting, sustainable business with a real business model? You're original post and this comment are certainly on point in that twitter has traction and it's use is massive and wide spread, but in the end it comes down to who's paying for it? Will twitter move to an optional (freemium) subscription model? Will it admit it's a marketing and advertising dream data set and sell that? I personally don't use twitter and my own bias has always left me not understanding the point (too much noise) but I'm certainly interested in what the plan to become a real business is.

fredwilson 15y ago
twitter's revenue model is the promoted suite http://blog.twitter.com/2010/10/promoted-promotions.html http://blog.twitter.com/2010/10/promoted-promotions.html that is what they have been focusing on for the past few years and it is producing a lot of revenue now

DevX101 15y ago

| you need something more than being mocked and misunderstood. you need traction, usage, momentum, etc. Companies that have traction, usage, momentum, etc and ARE NOT mocked and misunderstood certainly outperform the ones that fit those criteria and were mocked and misunderstood. Nonetheless, if you look at all the variables that could play a role in a company's success I doubt "mocked & misunderstood" has any predictive value over a large enough sample.