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We are not going the low quality route, we are headed for direct competition with Medium and blogging networks/platforms like it (we are keeping pace with them
by dmor 14y ago
We are not going the low quality route, we are headed for direct competition with Medium and blogging networks/platforms like it (we are keeping pace with them on traffic to our articles and plan to continue doing so). There is an undeniable groundswell around this kind of company right now, and even established companies like Quora are starting to offer much better tools for long-form content. It is going to be very hard, and potentially very rewarding. This new direction isn't just about pivoting away from something that didn't work, it is also about doing something we are much more passionate about.
I absolutely agree that our branding is wrong now, and it is likely to change but we haven't decided on a new brand yet. It would have been smoother and more clean PR to annoucne the new brand at the same time as discontinuing rewards, but I didn't want to wait any longer to let users know about the changes that were coming.
As to scalability I don't know, maybe it is harder, but it is a fight I am personally much happier to take on. Filling my day with talking to writers, readers, and producing/editing/reviewing/reading content to keep the quality bar high sounds like heaven. I'm so happy not to be carrying this secret around anymore, and to be working on something I love (again, I really did love Referly and it was a thesis I held for 4 years so letting go of it isn't as easy as my email makes it sound).
- wilfra 14y agoGo with a name that will work even if you end up pivoting 10 more times, because you will if your company is still around in 100 years. Blog post I did on buying premium domains you might find helpful in your search - feel free to email me if you need help: http://franceschine.com/post/19837401405/how-to-buy-domains-like-a-pro http://franceschine.com/post/19837401405/how-to-buy-domains-...
- ErikAugust 14y agoI suggest "Pivot". Why a startup has not done this already, I have no idea. I will be registering Pivot.ly and Pivot.co shortly.
- robryan 14y agoI could see it working as someone who called themselves something like a product/ market fit or pivot consultant. You could come in on a big hourly rate and review startups products and the market, advising them whether to continue with the current idea or if not what kind of pivots would best fit the assets and skills they have built up.
- mbesto 14y agoThis new direction isn't just about pivoting away from something that didn't work Curious to know what exactly didn't work? Sorry if I missed it but did you guys/girls blog about it specifically anywhere?
- dmor 14y agoI am going to blog about it more in depth, but my email to users basically sums it up - the promise of Referly was "write about products here and you'll get paid", but a lot of people didn't make money (lack of traffic, no being able affiliate products they wanted, etc) so we didn't fulfill that promise. In the process we learned a lot of people wanted to write and drive significant traffic, but only if they could be paid per post and maintain church and state between advertising/referrals and content. I don't have a real company if our brand isn't a promise we can keep. I want to build that, I won't settle for less.