Facebook to Offer Free Classifieds

nytimes.com

3 points·natrius··3 comments

Facebook's core value proposition is in organising the information around you. Secondly their objective is to maximise user retention.

So if a startup can build a product leverage facebook's network effects which falls outside of facebook's stated mission but can serve to keep users glued to the site it can do something of value that Facebook is unlikely to replicate.

For example see MosoTo - they are doing things on facebook that facebook aren't doing because it falls outside of its stated mission and so would be deemed a deviation from its product (chat + photo and media sharing).

For Facebook hackers out there - heres the rationale for building valuable products off of the facebook platform.

How long do you think it would take facebook to build an app better than Mosoto? You could say "why won't facebook just buy them?" - they could, but nothing says facebook has much inclination to acquire; they do have inclination to expand their mission.

Like its been said before, startups that rely on other networks without explicit agreement are calling for trouble.

So now that the big guys are demonstrating that they can quickly recognize opportunities and take advantage of them, of how much value is it to stay "under the radar"?

How can a new startup bring unique value that facebook couldn't just duplicate with a few outsourced coders overnight?

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