Facebook Success

Facebook had its initial success with college students by providing an information service that was not available offline – an interactive student directory containing each student’s class schedule and social network.

The initial Facebook usage was indeed driven by dating type activity – checking people out, learning more about crushes, light stalking type of activity, etc.

The larger picture here is that Facebook created a high utility online service for enabling pre-existing social behaviors within an offline community. This makes for an interesting lesson learned: it’s easier to piggyback off a pre-existing community with offline behaviors that drive online service usage.

Facebook also placed limits on the ability to search or browse users to the college that the user attends. These measures aim to make users feel that the site is exclusive and limited to members in their offline community (colleges and universities).

http://www.startup-review.com/blog/facebook-case-study-offline-behavior-drives-online-usage.php

The Google Story

Unlike most companies, where executives and product managers try to think of ways to make money and then create products, Google is a place where technologists think first of ways to solve problem; only later, if ever, do they worry about how to “monetize” them.

Optimism is important; you have to be a little silly about the goals you are going to set.

“Having a healthy disregard for the impossible and try to do things that most people will not.”

Larry Page stressed this critical point: inspiration still required plenty of perspiration.