While getting the timing of a new business just right depends on a whole host of outside factors – and most of them are out of your control as a founder – one of the best ways to learn is through the experiences of others. For better or worse, 10 cases are offered below for their vital learning lessons.
Timed Just Right
1. YouTube 
Remember the dark ages of online video when you had to download everything you wanted to watch, and it took forever? And there was no guarantee of decent quality? Not only that, but you needed to make sure you had the correct players, codecs, and general setup in order to ensure your video would even play properly. And all of that took up space on your machine and the chance of getting a virus or other malware was fairly high. All in all, locating and downloading
What You Can Learn:
YouTube took something that was growing in popularity and had a lot of pain points -uploading, sharing, and viewing videos via the web – and made it nearly seamless and easy enough for anyone to accomplish, right in their browser. And once they added Google’s search functionality, they were basically unstoppable.
2. AirBnB
Another deceptively simple concept that was introduced at the right time. And although we’ve already described how the issues caused by the somewhat dismal economic climate at the time of its launch played a key role in the success of AirBnB, it is important to note that the most vital aspect of their plan was that they found an easy way for people to exchange resources in a cost-effective fashion, at a time when people were actively seeking their kind of solution.
What You Can Learn:
The creators of AirBnB took an existing untapped resource and found a way to make it profitable by connecting the owners of those resources with those who needed them. After all, there are a fair number of people who have spare rooms or apartments that might be sitting empty for parts of the year (or it could be worthwhile for them to “make” the space empty during festivals, tourist high season, or other major events), and there also lots of people looking for inexpensive places to stay in desirable locales.
AirBnB also allows its users to gain financially from either listing their property or saving money on hotels and other incidentals. Plus, a private home or room offer other perks like a more character and a unique space (unlike most hotels), the “cool factor” of staying in a neighborhood amidst the locals versus a sterilized tourist space, and the possibility of interaction with or tips from via the owner or caretaker of the space, so there is an intangible benefit as well. And that local cachet is an excellent marketing hook.
3. Uber
The taxicab market was pretty entrenched in our collective minds when Uber and their number of imitators hit the market and changed the way that people got from point A to point B, especially in major cities. They solved the problem of hunting down or arranging a cab, having cash on hand to pay said cab, and hoping the cabbie knew where they were going.
What You Can Learn:
Have you noticed a trend in startups solving a problem by pairing an untapped resource with existing technology yet? Like AirBnB, Uber figured out a way to take advantage of an existing untapped resource in the form of people who had their own reliable vehicle and wanted to earn some extra money in their spare time. And also like AirBnB, Uber also hit the market at a time when plenty of people were looking to earn some side cash thanks to the global recession, and GPS devices and smartphones were already pretty standard – an invaluable element that allows Uber drivers to find unfamiliar locations.
4. CitySearch
Although it has most likely been awhile since CitySearch has crossed your mind, there’s no denying that they were successful in their time and place. As a way for businesses to create listings and their own pages, get reviews, and provide directions for users seeking entertainment, dining options, and various other types of services, CitySearch was the first of its kind and invaluable in its day, when it was difficult and expensive for non-tech savvy small business owners to create websites of their own.
What You Can Learn:
Make life easier (and cheaper) for business owners and therefore their target audience. CitySearch solved an increasing problem – with the growth of the web as a source of information and discovery tool, small business owners needed websites. But the cost and skills required to create a professional looking website at the time were relatively prohibitive. Enter Citysearch, where all you needed to be able to do was type in order to build an easily findable presence on the web. Users liked its simplicity and delivered the pageviews and traffic that allowed the site to gain traction.
5. Instagram
Instagram has practically become synonymous with sharing images online, and being good at Instagram can be a marketable skill or even a career in and of itself. From celebrities to your next door neighbor, anyone can curate their photos into a visually charming Instagram account.
What You Can Learn:
The genius in Instagram is how it amplifies popular behaviors that people already engage in, and blends them together in a logical way – and does it in a way that aligns with current trends.
Instagram combined three things and did it in a way that practically anyone could appreciate and accomplish. Image sharing, photo editing, and social media complete with hipster-approved filters that made your images look amazing. The fact that the already ubiquitous smartphone cameras were becoming pretty high quality certainly didn’t hurt either, along with its somewhat early adoption by celebrities who used it as a tool to reach their fans directly.
6. Snapchat
This image and video sharing app arose at a time when people were becoming increasingly concerned about their right to privacy and maintaining privacy and ownership of their identity and assocated content, especially images and videos. Enter Snapchat, with its anonymity guaranteed by the fact that nothing is stored on their servers and “snaps” or messages only lasted for a few seconds before vanishing into digital ether.
What You Can Learn:
Address people’s fears and fix their problems for them, and you’ll likely score some points. By addressing people’s growing concern for their digital privacy and creating a way to share images that wouldn’t last forever on the internet, Snapchat developed a broad user base.
Eventually, it became mainstream and various filters, overlays, and other fun stuff became the norm, along with people using it non-anonymously in order to provide a glimpse into their everyday lives and special moments.
The Startups Who Missed The Sweet Spot…
Even the best ideas and perfect execution can fail if the timing is off, and these examples certainly prove why.
1. Hailo
This was supposed to be a new way to hail a taxi – using actual taxis instead of people driving their own cars a la Uber and Lyft. You probably haven’t heard of it, and for good reason. People were already fed up with the taxi system and turning to Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar at the time Hailo launched, so why would they want a slightly more convenient way to do the same thing they’ve always done?
What You Can Learn:
Be a significant departure from the status quo and remember that startups don’t get huge by offering only incremental changes or minor iterations. Hailo got started after Uber and tried to compete based on the fact that people were more comfortable with the existing taxi cab option. Not only Hailo start late, they didn’t effect enough change or address the current pain point in a way that was different enough to stand out.
2. Ask Jeeves
On the other hand, you probably have heard of Ask Jeeves (at least if you’re over 30), the search engine that was a somewhat ironically aristocratic precursor to Google. The British butler who “answered” users questions peaked in the late 90s as Google was growing, and for many users was the default search engine option. And it did work pretty well for its era, but as we all know, Google eventually won the search engine wars.
What You Can Learn:
Besides the fact that relying on a cartoon character as the foundation of an empire really only worked for Walt Disney, Ask Jeeves didn’t really explain its value proposition to people very well. At the time, the search engine concept wasn’t really ingrained in the public domain and people simply didn’t get it. They were a little too early and unclear as to what they offered, even once they rebranded to Ask.com.
Basically, if you’re going to use your startup to introduce new concepts to the general public, you’ll need to educate them via your messaging if you want to be successful.
3. Joost
This video sharing network had the support of some major players, including Viacom, CNN, Sony, CBS, and the NHL. However, it required users to download ad supported videos to their own devices instead of streaming in 2006, when people were already getting used to streaming videos online.
What You Can Learn:
Don’t try to hold on to dated technology, no matter how good your partnership deals with old school companies or advertisers are. You can’t go back in time, so try and bring any partnerships and their way of thinking into the present or look for new relationships.
At once too early with its Q&A search format and too late to apply it to mobile apps where people are more used to typing in questions or asking questions with natural phrasing, Ask Jeeves folded quickly in the face of competition from Google.
4. Webvan
This same-day delivery service was an excellent idea and the precursor to companies like Instacart and concepts like Amazon Prime. But it didn’t survive because it couldn’t turn a profit – the demand was there, but the infrastructure necessary to make it all happen in a cost-effective fashion simply didn’t exist yet.
What You Can Learn:
At the time that Webvan and several of their competitors launched, the market for on-demand same day deliveries was there. And let’s face it, it always has been and always will be – humans have always been fond of immediate gratification, so that part of the Webvan business plan was never in question.
Long Term Impact Of Good Timing
Granted, hitting the sweet spot regarding timing might be the most important variable for your startup’s initial growth and future success, but it also matters for long-term growth – especially in regard to the types of problem that your startup aims at solving.
For instance, if your startup intrinsically tied to a certain type of technology or it is based on a current or emerging trend, how do you plan to adapt if something happens and the trend fades out or that type of technology and any associated devices or platforms fall out of favor?
Generally, there are two main routes for entrepreneurs in this position – cash in while you can and move on to the next thing, or pivot to align with the latest and greatest tech and trends. The first option might seem like the easy way out, but there is nothing to be gained by holding on to a spark of a business whose time has clearly passed. Which leaves the second choice, but shifting your company’s position can be easier said than done.
So in the end, timing your startup’s progress correctly all comes down to understanding the key factors and a bit of old-fashioned trusting your gut.
Luck And Intuition
Luck and intuition might be the magic ingredient or the “secret sauce” of startup success. You can control many different aspects of starting a company, such as who you hire and partner with, your sources of funding (to an extent), which demographics and audiences you choose to target, the design and style of your brand and products, and how the technology behind everything works.
And you can control the timing, to some extent. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to a gut feeling and more than a bit of luck.
The history of the web is littered with startups that were full of promise but only failed due to poor timing. And with a little bit of luck and a lot of planning, yours doesn’t have to be one of them, especially if you learn from the mistakes and triumphs of your predecessors.
There’s no easy roadmap to success, but being in the right place, with the right skills, at the right time, when your audience is ready for what you have to offer them certainly puts your startup on the ideal path.
Leave a Reply