I'm back from New York with a whopper flu bug (not swine, don't worry...), a faux orange Goyard bag and a working knowledge of Twitter. Using Twitter has been interesting, though based on my usage I can't figure out how the company is ever going to make money. It's free to sign up. There are no ads on the web page. There are no ads embedded in the tweets that come to my Blackberry. (I signed up for unlimited text messaging from T-Mobile in order to receive all those tweets, so I know they're making money from me. But how is Twitter, the company itself, going to make money?) If anyone can think of a revenue-generating business model, please share . (NOTE: I realize that Twitter has raised a bunch of venture funding which gives them the luxury of time before they have to show revenue, but they're in the minority for sure. Here's a great post from Charlie O'Donnell of Path101 that speaks to the current funding climate and how it's imperative for startups to figure out their revenue models quickly.)
I'm continuing here the theme of my last blog in which I mentioned a great article featuring "lessons learned" from a failed startup. That blog resulted in folks sending me some similar stories that I'm sharing here. I'm not trying to focus on the negative but, as most people say, there is much to be learned from adversity, perhaps more than from success. This article by Mark Goldenson of PlayCafe features great advice as well as tons of great click-throughs to even more relevant content; this article by Roger Ehrenberg highlights the seven deadly sins that brought down Monitor110; and this blog post discusses the story of Meetro, a failed location-based social network. Maybe Twitter's management can find some useful info in these insightful pieces, as can you. And if you're an active Twitterer (Tweeter?) let me know what you think of the service. Better yet, send me a tweet! (@lagries)
Lynn-Ann Gries is the Chief Investment Officer of JumpStart Ventures. She previously worked in the investment banking departments at both McDonald Investments and Smith Barney (now part of Citigroup), and in the sales and trading area at Morgan Stanley. She received her MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business and her BA in Economics from Smith College. She currently serves on the board of the Fund for the Future of Shaker Heights, the Great Lakes Science Center and Summer on the Cuyahoga (SOTC).