What should Web 2.0 companies not do?

Introductory presentation by Mark Fletcher (of Bloglines fame).

What Web 2.0 Companies Should Not Do

• Don't take too long to launch
• "perfection is the enemy of good enough"
• getting customer feedback sooner rather than later will help product development
• Bloglines was formed around the problem of finding info (not a solution looking for a problem)
  

"freemium" -- free for limited usage, pay for additional

Discussion Leaders: Theresia Gouw-Ranzetta and Jake Kaldenbough

There was some pushback on the "Go Ugly Early" model for business oriented startups. It was suggested that business customers did want to see applications early but didn't want to lose data. Beta doesn't excuse flaky. See Ethan Stock's Google Start Acting Like a Real Business or You Are Doomed

We are asking our customers to bet their businesses on our ability to
deliver. "Flaky but free" simply does not cut it any more. How many of
you out there rely on Yahoo or Google email for business-critical
communications? What if it went down tomorrow, for 48 hours? What if
Salesforce.com stopped working for 48 hours? What if Ebay or Adwords
stopped working? Marketing campaigns, communications, and commerce
grind to a halt, and real damage is done to real people and real businesses.