The bowling pin strategy
27 August 2010
I really like to read Chris Dixon’s blog and I wish he posted more often. Sometimes his insights are really awesome, others are nothing new, but all the times you can be certain that he’s speaking his mind out, giving you his very personal unadulterated view. And that is what it is.
Here’s a recent post with some valuable insight on strategy. You may argue that he’s talking more about tactics and execution rather than strategy, but I think the debate on this is academic, while the points made here are valuable for every business, start up or not.
A huge challenge for user-generated websites is overcoming the chicken-and-egg problem: attracting users and contributors when you are starting with zero content. One way to approach this challenge is to use what Geoffrey Moore calls the bowling pin strategy: find a niche where the chicken-and-egg problem is more easily overcome and then find ways to hop from that niche to other niches and eventually to the broader market.
Facebook executed the bowling pin strategy brilliantly by starting at Harvard and then spreading out to other colleges and eventually the general public. If Facebook started out with, say, 1000 users spread randomly across the world, it wouldn’t have been very useful to anyone. But having the first 1000 users at Harvard made it extremely useful to Harvard students. Those students in turn had friends at other colleges, allowing Facebook to hop from one school to another.
Being born under this sign determines many talents, as well as other characteristics that may not be so commendable. Rats are very lively and need a lot of mental and physical stimulation. They can be calm and perceptive, but sometimes their brains can cause a mental restlessness, tempting them to take on too much, only to discover they are unable to meet their commitments. Rats are blessed with one of the best intellects going. Add to their intelligence a curiosity and a bright imagination, and they seem as sharp as a needle.
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