The Entrepreneurial Musings of Ben Parr - Latest Comments in There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

Amara — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:11:56 -0000

Hey I am a Twitter follower of yours, @amazinglyamara . Do you think there is a lack of middle ground being met by tech entrepreneurs and traditional business logic? Do you think this is Twitter's future success will involve a premium membership at a cost?

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

Amara — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:11:56 -0000

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

sohitkarol — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:23:09 -0000

Glad that you gave an example of Twitter.
I think, what you refer to a large extent is true - buzz, funding, press etc...all are secondary, and to an extent, an indicator of a business that if not profitable in the present, could be so valuable to the users that it would be profitable in the future (Youtube, Facebook etc).

But remember, we are talking about consumer web products, where a large fraction of products are free to begin with and can be monetized after hitting a certain user base only. Free services make sense for startups with deep pockets, where there is enough time, money and expertise to tweak the product. For most of the startups, unless they are in the enterprise based domain, subscription models are the way to go - but in my opinion, that always comes at the cost of their ambition. At the most,you can be a 200 mn dollar company and get an exit, but you can not hope to be the next Google or Facebook if your service is not free.

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

sohitkarol — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:23:09 -0000

But remember, we are talking about consumer web products, where a large fraction of products are free to begin with and can be monetized after hitting a certain user base only. Free services make sense for startups with deep pockets, where there is enough time, money and expertise to tweak the product. For most of the startups, unless they are in the enterprise based domain, subscription models are the way to go - but in my opinion, that always comes at the cost of their ambition. At the most,you can be a 200 mn dollar company and get an exit, but you can not hope to be the next Google or Facebook if your service is not free.

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

Frank Cseh — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:44:36 -0000

Earnings Per Share is the goal of a public corporation.

@fcseh on Twitter

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

Frank Cseh — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:44:36 -0000

Earnings Per Share is the goal of a public corporation.

@fcseh on Twitter

Re: There's Only One Metric of Success in Business: PROFIT

Frank Cseh — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:44:36 -0000

Earnings Per Share is the goal of a public corporation.

@fcseh on Twitter