“… when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get
the power, then you get the women.” –Tony “Scarface” Montana
In the world of computing, first you get the users, then you get
the applications, then you get the power. What do I mean by
power? In a word “platform”. If the only way for users to get
applications is through you, and the only way for application
developers to get to users is through you, then you are a
platform. If you continue to nurture and grow your platform, your
company is immortal, it is a goose that will continue to lay
golden eggs…as long as you continue to nurture it.
To get the users, you need to deliver immediate value. Once you
achieve critical mass of users, the developers will start showing
up, whether you want them or not. A good example of this was
Myspace. They attracted so many users, that developers started
providing extensions directly to users without Myspace’s …
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