[hn_throwaway_99]

Maybe we should call this the Twitter-Way:

1. Successful software product that is beloved by its core users goes public.

2. The valuation expectations when the company goes public are based on widely optimistic growth projections where the company grows beyond its 'natural' user base (remember 'Twitter is the new Facebook' back in the day?)

3. In order to meet those widely optimistic, unrealistic projections, the company tries a whole host of "throw against the wall and see what sticks" features to attract users outside their core. This has the effect of pissing off their core users while not really attracting many new users in any case.

4. Eventually (hopefully) the company realizes it's not going to be the next world dominating superpower, learns to be content with just hundreds of millions of users instead of billions, and gets back to focusing on making its core users happy.

Maybe can also be called the Snap-Way??

[rsync]

"Maybe we should call this the Twitter-Way"

No - I insist that we name this after Sonos, even though they were hardly the first (and certainly not the most widespread) abuser.

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread:

"... nowhere do you see such a stark juxtaposition between an actually useful product that people pay premium dollars for and pivoting the business model towards shady, sneaky, anti-customer patterns."

[heavenlyblue]

The sad thing is that if eg Twitter decides not to accept that VC money, the VCs will turn their back on Twitter and invest all of that into another Twitter clone, and that’s when competition may suddenly become an issue.

[TeMPOraL]

Such is the market's race to the bottom.