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Comment by jfc | Hacker News Reader

A couple of things.

The ethnic hair care & beauty market approached $3 billion in sales in 2011 (check out Packaged Facts, etc.). Not a small market. And in 2010, that market grew 13%.

There are big trends in social media around natural/naturally curly hair and beauty. I know a couple of startup founders who are building out apps in the ethnic beauty space, and there are already other social networks focused on hair-related issues for diverse women. Lots of high-traffic blogs, too.

All things considered, $1.4m isn't much.

ETA: Many women are very social around beauty, especially hair. I have naturally curly hair, and I can't tell you how many times I am complimented or asked questions (in person and online) by other women (and the occasional man) who are interested in chatting. Having an online network seems a natural next step.

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My company iCouch, addresses a $20 billion dollar market growing by 20% -- but that doesn't mean that market creates profitability for companies in the space. Cheese is also a multi billion dollar market, but a Cheese social network doesn't necessarily make money. The market size isn't determined by the market size of the particular niche. The question is what's the market size for people that want to share articles about curly hair. People buy hair products, but it doesn't mean they want to join a network to hang out with other people buying those products. The "XYZ" market is X $billion per year doesn't mean anything to investors, the question is what's the addressable market for your particular product. There is a very big difference.

Yes, yes, we all know how to size markets.

The point I was making is that the market is there AND there is considerable interest around hair texture and styling among diverse women. Those who have researched ethnic personal care (and related issues) frequently discuss the importance and ubiquity of social interaction among those sharing certain beauty attributes. Check google if you're interested in the research--it's out there.

$1.4m is a small risk for a company already getting 2 million uniques a month.

By the way, if you are looking for traditional metrics on curly hair, the most you'll get is general ethnic personal care market sizing--the numbers just aren't as granular for markets around hair texture, skin color, etc. Hopefully soon we'll get access to that kind of data.

ETA: ethnic personal care data can be used as a proxy for curly haired people, but any ethnic group can have curly hair.

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