I read an interesting post the other day on mashable about how most web 2.0 startups fail. So I thought I’d better post-up the image for everyone to see and hopefully cast your opinions. The conversation originally started with Meg Pickards post on her blog with a somewhat interesting view on the potential of social media startups in general.
She posted a great image of ALL the web 2.0 / social media startups to date that are either now extinct, still running, or have been acquired for tens of millions of dollars (they are the green circles)! I really tend to agree with Pete Cashmore in that we should all be supporting new ventures and entrepreneurs to help push our industry further and to further integrate the importance of social media and web 2.0 in every day life.
When ever a new venture launches, most are instant critics and usually you’ll be right, most people know after using an app once whether it will make it or not. But nether the less, plenty do and you can continue reading to check out the full graph here.
Hi.
Thanks for linking to this – but just to clarify, my blog post wasn’t negative about the potential of social media startups in general.
In fact, I specifically said:
“I present these updates without reference to or predicting the demise of web 2.0 or social technologies or anything like that. Just to be a bit more accurate.”
The point of my blog post was to update a useful (but out of date) collage with more current data.
Mashable actually added the headline “most web 2.0 companies fail”, while my headline was posed as a question rather than a statement. I also went on to provide a version of the map with blank spaces which could be filled by all the other successful companies and services
which have emerged in the last few years (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter…):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meg/3537830117/
I don’t mind being characterised as someone who asks questions about
the ongoing evolution of web 2.0 – I think it’s an interesting time for businesses, and I’m generally optimistic about the evolution of web 2.0 businesses – but I do object to being misrepresented as a negativist, which is what you imply in your post above.
Thanks.
Has anyone done an additional comparison with businesses start ups as a whole? The majority of small businesses fail and very few sell for millions. A basic look at this graphic suggests that web 2.0 businesses fare better than average.
I though you might be interested to know I posted a followup article to this story that quantifies the success and failure rates of these companies. It includes a spreadsheet of ~200 web startups.