@andrewchen: "Best Of" from 2007-2010

"Best Of" 2007-2010 Hi readers, I've been writing since 2007, and I have some older essays - some are still relevant, but many just present a flashback to what things were like back in 2007. Hope you enjoy them. -Andrew PS. If you're interested in learning more, let's chat or meet up. Here's the best way to get ahold of me, if you're a developer or designer. Details here. Viral marketing and user acquisition (2007-2011) For web entrepreneurs, growing your userbase is a key challenge, alongside product development and financing. These posts emphasize a quantitative approach to getting traction and growing users.  What's your viral loop? Understanding the engine of adoption Adwords is not enough for success on the consumer web Bridging your traffic engine with your revenue engine  Facebook viral marketing: When and why do apps "jump the shark?"  How to calculate cost-per-acquisition for startups relying on freemium, subscription, or virtual items biz Is your site really viral? Viral Branding versus Viral Action  Social network marketing: Getting from zero to critical mass Viral marketing is not a marketing strategy  Growing renewable audiences (a talk at O'Reilly Alphatech Ventures) Engagement and product design (2007-2013) Using principles from game design and analysis of consumer behavior, these essays cover the process of creating experiences your customers will love. 25 reasons users STOP using your product: An analysis of customer lifecycle Are people like lab rats? Using reward schedules to drive engagement  Do you ever say, "MySpace is sooo ugly?" This blog's for you… Does Facebook reflect your true friendships? How about e-mail? Friends versus Followers: Twitter's elegant design for grouping contacts How desktop apps beat websites at building large active userbases How to keep visual design consistent while A/B testing like crazy Is your website a leaky bucket? 4 scenarios for user retention  Product design debt versus Technical debt Public and private spaces, and why YouTube comments are so awful  Minimum Desirable Product  Minimum Desirable Product 2 (slides included!) Social network death spiral: How Metcalfe's Law can work against you Social design explosion: Polls, quizzes, reviews, forums, oh my! Talk to your target customer in 4 easy steps Technology always changes, but people always stay the same The design of social spaces User retention: Why depending on notification-driven retention sucks Users, customers, or audience – what do you call the people that visit your site? Why your friends list gets polluted over time Why you should make it easy for users to quit your product Why low-fidelity prototyping kicks butt for customer-driven design Your site will succeed or fail in the first 10 seconds Freemium and online ad monetization (2007-2013) Social web product have unique characteristics as it applies to online advertising and direct monetization levels. These posts cover some of the issues around key topics such as ARPUs, conversion funnels, CPM rates, behavioral data, revenue modeling, etc. 3 key ideas from a recent Freemium dinner conversation  5 factors that determine your advertising CPM rates  5 things that make your social network monetize like crap 7 ideas for billion dollar startups in online advertising App monetization: Gambit launches, funnel metrics, and ARPU versus "CPM" Age (and ARPPU) ain't nothing but a number: How age impacts monetization (Guest post, Susan Su) Are social gaming offers scamming users? A detailed analysis Data portability: Is the social network data you're hoarding treasure or trash? Counting your big pile of Benjamins: 5 startup tips for maximizing ad revenue Creating value versus optimizing revenue  Free to Freemium: 5 lessons learned from YouSendIt.com Freemium case study: AdultFriendFinder ARPU, churn, and conversion rates  How to create a profitable Freemium startup (spreadsheet model included!) Ignore cougars, follow the money: 3 social gaming tips for monetizing younger users (Guest post, Susan Su) How NOT to calculate ad revenue How social gaming offers create value for everyone Online advertising during a recession: 5 key trends for ad-based startups  Virtual goods summit video, The Whirled Case Study: metrics for the virtual goods business What's the value of a user on your site? Why it's hard to calculate lifetime value for social network audiences  Your ad-supported consumer site is actually a B2B enterprise in disguise "Stealing MySpace" and my personal experience monetizing MySpace ads Super Rewards and the leadgen side of Facebook virtual currency – can it last? Remnant ads and the advertisers who love them  Ad targeting talk from Community Next: People Not Pages (updated x2) Revenue, ARPU, Funnels, and RPM: My talk from Startonomics on Revenue metrics Ad-based versus direct monetization: Which one is better for you?  What would Facebook look like if it sold out to ads? Click here to see… Will social payment platforms really work long-term? (Guest post by Jay Weintraub) Metrics (2007-2013) Without metrics, web entrepreneurs are just flying blind. These essays cover some of the organization and development issues around instituting a metrics system – what to measure, in what order, and how to implement them.  5 warning signs: Does A/B testing lead to crappy products? 5 steps towards building a metrics-driven business  Benefit-Driven Metrics: Measure the lives you save, not the life preservers you sell The first 6 steps to homegrowing basic startup analytics Are you misusing Alexa numbers? (Probably) Lessons from the casino industry on engagement metrics and lifetime value Obama and McCain: How political marketing has evolved from offline to online omg I'm just a startup, I can't do those fancy analytics! Recency Frequency and Monetization (RFM): Optimizing your notifications strategy How to measure if users love your product using cohorts and revisit rates How to generate awesome test candidates for A/B testing Why metrics-driven startups overlook brand value Media and games (2007-2013) Traditional media, including TV, music, games, and movies are at a crossroads. Here are some thoughts on how the industry is changing and evolving. BBS door games: Social gaming innovation from the 1980s From analog dollars to digital pennies: The crisis in traditional media Game design tutorial at the GDC MySpace versus Facebook: Analysis of both traffic and ad revenue, using Google Trends What every Web 2.0 entrepreneur should know about virtual goods Social Gaming Summit: Recap and observations  Early adopters vs the Mainstream: Google Insights points out websites only used by Silicon Valley nerds YouTube vs Webkinz: Case studies for new product adoption Prosper.com and peer-to-peer lending in the economic downturn  4 major cultural differences between Games people and Web people Entrepreneurship and startup life in San Francisco (2007-2013) Just a couple thoughts on things I've encountered while arriving in SF. 10 tips for meeting people at industry events  5 ways to break past the San Francisco echo-chamber  Are Web 2.0 startups wasting their time with Web 2.0 early adopters? Bay Area investors I'm following on Twitter Building the initial team for seed stage startups Building lifestyle companies vs VC-backable startups: Is it walk before you run?  Built to Fail: How companies like Google, IDEO, and 37Signals build failure-tolerant systems for anything! Couple quotes on Facebook in Wired, Fortune, and NYT Does Silicon Valley noise detract from long-term value creation? How do you find a badass co-founder, Part 2  How do you find a badass co-founder? How do you do concrete interviews for non-technical people? How do start a professional blog: 10 tips for new bloggers How helpful is venture capital experience to building startups? Is blogging worth it? What's the ROI? The question that got me to leave Seattle for greener startup pastures Moving to SF and joining the tech community – Lessons from my first year What's an Entrepreneur-in-Residence? What if interviews poorly predict job performance? What if dating poorly predicts marital happiness? Which startup's collapse will end the Web 2.0 era? Copyright © 2013 @andrewchen, All rights reserved. You are subscribed to new blog posts at @andrewchen. Our mailing address is: @andrewchen Bay Area San Francisco, CA 94115 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences