Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Fred Wilson on the 'Now Web' and monetizing Twitter

In a recent interview, Fred Wilson talks about how he thinks Twitter and friends will make money for VCs. It seems to me like he really doesn't have much of a plan either, when he answers "How will companies make money from the Now Web?" by saying ..

People who can't wrap their heads around trying to monetize these businesses aren't trying that hard. It would be naive to assume that the management teams of Twitter or FriendFeed or Disqus don't have four or five strategies for monetization in their business plans that they are evaluating. Just because people aren't currently executing a business model doesn't mean they don't have two or three they are ready to turn on at the right moment.

Well, can it be that "people aren't currently executing a business model" because they don't have jack when it comes to it? I mean, it's one thing to show a business model on paper and colourful presentation slides; but history dictates that generating real money and becoming profitable quarter by quarter involves a tad bit more than story telling skills.

It's a bit like super cars. The specs for a Honda NSX looks great on paper. But when it really comes down to taking it for a spin, Ayrton Senna can make it look like a dream. Give it to a teenager and things will not go that smoothly.