A hell of a journeyfavit’s way May 2008 – Oct 2009
Atanas Youroukov, Head of Product Design• Strong web product visionary• Creative UI designer
Konstantin Hristov, CEO, Biz Dev• Sales and Marketing • VP of M & S in Outsourcing • Citigroup
Nenko Ivanov, CTO• Top 3 Software engineer in BG
JANUARY 2008, 3 guys knock on a VCs door...
The Plan
What exactly was favit suppose to do:
• Digg.com• Delicious• Google Reader• Blogger• MySpace
All in one place
Rate
Communicate
Interact
Share
Create
Search
Save & Organize
Read
The Content...
UserUser
User
User
User
User
User
User
THE CONTENTpost + rate + comment
UserUser
User
User
User
User
User
User
friends
Interest mates
THE CONTENT
Bears IDEAS that ...
THE CONTENTGroups + focus
= mini societies
User
User
User User
User
User
User
SUB-CONTENT
Provoke INTERESTS and ...
d
d
dd
d
User Groups
THE CONTENT
d
d
dd
d
User Groups
d
dd
User Groups
User Groups
Shape BEHAVIOUR ...d
d
d
d
d
d
User Groups
Actually the goal is...The CONTENT is king...
Web Nation
Clique Cult
Loyalty
Siz
e
favit
We had a tons of arguments ...
Q1 2006 Q2 2006 Q3 2006 Q4 2006 Q1 2007 Q2 2007
Content 38.3% 39.4% 41.4% 44.7% 46.0% 48.1%
Communication 38.6% 38.7% 37.6% 33.6% 33.5% 32.7%
Commerce 17.6% 16.5% 15.9% 16.9% 15.8% 14.5%
Search 5.4% 5.4% 5.0% 4.8% 4.7% 4.6%
Average share of time US Internet Users spend online
Now is the time …
1,225
2,145
2,883
3,5594,136
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Mill $
Worldwide Online Social Network Advertisement Spending
Source: eMerketer.com
April 2008
1. favit.com first
2. started working hard immoderately
We’ve got the $
May - August 2008
It became clear that our initial idea can be developed further more
Time to market Technology innovation
• Follow the plan and continue as is• Passive behavior to potential threads and opportunities• Short term advantages• Short term innovation
• Concentrate and become Technology leader• React, adapt and improve when potential threads arise• Long term advantages• Middle and Long term innovation
The winners (Potential threats)
The losers – Try not to make the same mistakes as they did
August 2008 - October 2009
So fearless we embarked to our journey to create the most powerful
Social network in the world
favit now
Lessons – the hard way
Where we made mistakes – What we have learned:
1. If you see a better solution to a problem already solved
1. Implement it NOW2. If you discard it – you will regret in the near future
• Never take in consideration user complaints about features and decisions you believe in:
• This will slow you down• Innovation is always difficult to accept by users – force and help
them to overcome their fears
1. Hiring a developer takes more than 1 month
2. Preparing a developer takes more than 2 months
Paid growth doesn’t pay-off in the early stage
The future
Completely open webWe haven’t seen an animal like that
Speed and CredibilityHow to get credible information first
Blogs will die – or will transform
Advertising without context will die(and it’s dying now – ask some portal sites)
CPM, CPC, CPA will merge: CPECost per Engagement
favalanche will be on the front row of this transformation
favit has already started being a trendsetter
Thank you for your time!
Konstantin HristovYou can call me anytime: +359.896.863.500Or drop a mail: [email protected]